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Thursday, 28 March. 2024
 
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bitterlemons: There has been criticism that Palestinian-Israeli negotiations will be fruitless because of the divide between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. What is your response to this?

Husseini: This is a pretext. Palestinians, led by the PLO, the president of the Executive Committee of the PLO and the president of the Palestinian Authority, have the full right to negotiate with Israel. Once we negotiate a deal that is acceptable to the president and the PLO it will be put to the people. So the objection is not valid.

bitterlemons: Israeli critics of the peace process say that the PA cannot fulfill its obligations under the roadmap since it does not have control over Gaza. What do you think of such criticism?

Husseini: Again, this is a way to get out of negotiations. There are obligations on both sides. The Palestinian side has done almost everything that it is obliged to do. The issue of security in Gaza is a difficult one, and we can't do it because we are not there any more. But that does not mean that we are not working very hard to achieve security in the West Bank. Security is a process, not an end result. It is an ongoing process that we are working very hard on.

That is on our side. On the Israeli side there are decisions--and they are decisions rather than processes--that Israel has to take as part of its obligations. The first one is to freeze the expansion of settlements, including their natural growth. This is a decision that needs to be taken. The second is to remove settlement outposts. They have not taken this decision. The third is to open Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem. Again, this is a decision Israel has not taken.

Israel has not really done anything to fulfill its obligations under the roadmap, while we have worked very hard to fulfill ours. Using the issue of security in Gaza is just a pretext.

bitterlemons: On the other side, Hamas argues that the PA under Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has no legitimacy to negotiate since the Hamas government was dismissed, they say, illegally.

Husseini: The PA is not negotiating with the Israelis. The PLO has the mandate to negotiate and is doing so. The PA is an agreement between Israel and the PLO.

bitterlemons: Hamas could argue that having won PA elections it has a popular mandate that is not reflected in the PLO since it is not represented there and that popular mandate means negotiations are illegitimate.

Husseini: I think we are doing our best to include everybody within the PLO. But having perpetrated a coup only one year after being elected to the PLC makes it illegitimate for Hamas to ask any of these questions. Hamas has to rescind its coup first and then we can talk about inclusiveness rather than exclusion. Hamas has obviously been excluded because of the coup. It was the Hamas-led government that started the coup in Gaza. Thus we cannot agree that Hamas has any legitimacy. Such legitimacy can only be obtained if Hamas rescinds its coup and comes back to be part of the legitimate Authority led by President Abbas.

bitterlemons: How worried are you about this Palestinian division?

Husseini: We are extremely worried about it. We think we have fallen into a trap laid by our many enemies. Hamas was the vehicle for this trap. Once the coup took place it meant that there would be a split between Gaza and the West Bank, which is exactly what our enemies wanted to happen.

bitterlemons: You call it a trap. Who laid this trap?

Husseini: There are parties in Israel who are promoting the scenario of handing over control of Gaza to Egypt and thereby ending Palestinian unity. But we fell into the trap and in the end we have to blame ourselves for this disunity.

bitterlemons: Are unity talks ongoing? Is there any compromise in the making?

Husseini: I think it is very difficult to compromise on anything unless Hamas rescinds its coup. This is a condition that is very important. You cannot allow people to take Gaza hostage and then demand dialogue. Hamas has to accept the legitimacy of the PA and become part of it again. Then we can have a dialogue that reunites the Palestinian people.

bitterlemons: The demand to rescind the coup, what does this mean? People talk about going back to the situation before. Does this mean a return to the national unity government?

Husseini: It means that Hamas has to decide if it is part and parcel of the PA. If it is, then it has to accept the decisions of the head of the PA as long as they are in line with the basic law. Government formation is the prerogative of the head of the PA and Hamas has to accept that its government was dismissed and clearly state that it rescinds the coup. Then we can work on how to bring back unity.

Having said this, rescinding the coup does not mean we go back to the same conditions in Gaza as before and the lack of security, the corruption. None of this is acceptable. We have to build unity on the basis of no corruption and full security for the citizens of Gaza.

bitterlemons: Should the priority be to push forward the peace process or to build unity?

Husseini: I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. We want to push forward the peace process. We have this year to come up with some text for an agreement that is acceptable to Palestinians and Israelis. We need to push hard and give no excuses to anyone on the Israeli side to say that we are not serious or we are not for peace. If the peace process fails we want the world to know it is not because of us.

As for unity, it is very important and we will work for it. But the Hamas leadership in Gaza has to understand that there cannot be unity unless they rescind the coup.

bitterlemons: There has been criticism that the PA continues to talk to Israel even with the violence in and isolation of Gaza. Would a major Israeli military invasion of Gaza alter this picture?

Husseini: We feel there are significant forces in Israel that want us to stop talking. In my opinion, these forces are trying their best to influence Palestinian public opinion to pressure the leadership to end the peace process. That way, Israel can point the finger at us and blame us for the process failing. It is our obligation, and it is because we are wise, that we continue talking in spite of the conditions Israel is creating around us.

That does not mean there will not come a time when we stop talking. But at the moment, there are forces in Israel who want us to end the process and we will not fall into this trap. We will talk and if the process fails, it should be they that are blamed, not us.- Published 11/2/2208 © bitterlemons.org

Rafiq Husseini is chief of staff of the Office of President Mahmoud Abbas.

 
 
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