Palestinians hopeful reconciliation talks will end national rift

Palestinians at home and in the Diaspora are hoping that the Egyptian-sponsored national reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo will succeed in ending the rift between the two largest Palestinian national movements.

The Palestinian national cause has suffered immensely as a result of the enduring crisis as the apartheid Israeli regime sought relentlessly to utilize internal Palestinian divisions to consolidate its repression and escalate its crimes against the Palestinian people.

Moreover, Israel took advantage of the internal power struggle to build and expand Jewish settlements, especially in Jerusalem where the Zionist occupation authorities are planning to destroy an entire Palestinian neighbourhood as part of a master plan to ethnically cleanse the city of its Arab inhabitants.

The national reconciliation talks started formally in Cairo on Wednesday, 25 February, with a “preparatory meeting” involving two delegations representing Fatah and Hamas. The Hamas delegation was led by Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a high-ranking Hamas leader from the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Qurei’, Chief Palestinian negotiator and former Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister headed the Fatah delegation, which also included Fatah parliamentarian, Azzam al-Ahmed.

Following the initial meeting, al-Zahar and al-Ahmed pointed out in a joint peace conference that the meeting was positive.

The two revealed that both movements agreed to take a number of confidence-building measures, including putting an end to politically motivated arrests, releasing a significant number of political prisoners and terminating incitement and media attacks.

The two movements also pointed out that five committees were formed with the task of carrying out what was agreed upon.

Al-Zahar said that as many as 400 Hamas members and supporters were being incarcerated in the West Bank, adding that of those 80 had been freed.

Al-Ahmed revealed that Hamas had lifted house arrests imposed on a number of Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip. He added that “good will” was the main guarantee for the success of the internal dialogue and for confronting the Israeli aggression.

Al-Ahmed also revealed that the two sides agreed to form a government of national reconciliation.

In a press release, the two delegations said, “We have come to Cairo in order to end the rift and effect a final agreement to restore national unity.”

Asked if the prospective reconciliation agreement would involve recognition by Hamas of Israel, al-Zahar said, “We will not recognize Israel, period.”

He added that “the objective circumstances were now more adequate and more conducive to effecting a successful dialogue.”

Favourable international atmosphere

The national reconciliation talks in Cairo are taking place under relatively favourable conditions, at least as far as Hamas is concerned.

Israel, in collusion with the United States and a number of regional players, had been making strenuous efforts to destroy or at least seriously weaken Hamas, but to no avail.

In the last week of December, the Israeli army carried out a genocidal blitzkrieg against Gaza, killing and maiming as many as 7,000 people, mostly innocent civilians, including more than 370 children. Moreover, the Nazi-like onslaught utterly destroyed the bulk of the civilian infrastructure, including thousands of homes, apartment buildings, mosques, schools, and public buildings.

Israel and the Bush administration—which enthusiastically backed the criminal onslaught—had hoped that the overwhelming invasion and the indiscriminate death and terror meted out to the Gaza civilians would prompt the masses to turn against Hamas.

Some influential Fatah leaders in Ramallah are also believed to have colluded with Israel during the 22-day offensive in the hope of bringing down the elected Hamas government.

However, all these designs utterly failed and Hamas emerged from the one-sided war politically stronger and far more popular than before the war.

This apparently played a significant role in getting Fatah and the American-backed Palestinian Authority to abandon their erstwhile plans to topple Hamas and re-conquer the coastal enclave.

More to the point, two years of draconian measures against the Hamas government, including an extremely harsh blockade that effectively pushed the Gaza Strip to the brink of disaster failed to make Hamas cave in, which also convinced the international community that it was inescapable to talk with Hamas.

This impression gained momentum and became apparent especially after the departure of the Bush administration and the advent of the Obama administration, with the latter signaling that it wouldn’t stand in the way of a Palestinian national unity government comprising Hamas and Fatah.

In recent weeks, there have been many signs indicating that the West, especially the European Union, may be on its way to initiating contacts with Hamas.

On Wednesday, 25 February, a group of former peace negotiators urged the world community to engage Hamas, saying the policy of shunning and boycotting the Islamic liberation movement was “futile.”

“The policy of isolating Hamas cannot bring about stability. As former peace negotiators, we believe it is of vital importance to abandon the failed policy of isolation and to involve Hamas in the political process,” the group said in a letter published in the British newspaper, the Times on 26 February.

The letter said the futility of the policy had been demonstrated by the recent Israeli blitz against Gaza, as well as the tight blockade of Gaza and the boycott of Hamas.

“Whether we like it or not, Hamas will not go away. Since its victory in democratic elections in 2006, Hamas has sustained its support in Palestinian society despite attempts to destroy it through economic blockades, political boycotts and military incursions.”

The letter was signed by several former negotiators, including former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, former United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Alvaro de Soto, former leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party of Northern Ireland John Hume, as well as former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami.

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was quoted as saying that talking to Hamas was “the right thing to do.”

The increasing international propensity to talk with Hamas has undoubtedly caused a lot of bitterness and anger within Israeli political circles.

On Thursday, 26 February, the right-wing Israeli newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, quoted an advisor to the Prime Minister-designate as urging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to boycott a prospective Palestinian national unity government that includes Hamas and Fatah.

Zalman Shuval, a right-wing extremist and proponent of apartheid, said Israel would try to convince the Obama administration to refrain from encouraging other countries to recognize Hamas.

“We shall try to convince our American friends that this is not something that would help the peace process, and that it would only make it easier for all sorts of other players—the Europeans and the Russians—to deal with Hamas.” 

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Clinton backs talks with moderate Taliban

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday endorsed Afghan plans to hold reconciliation talks with moderate Taliban members.

"We must support efforts by the government of Afghanistan to separate the extremists of al Qaeda and the Taliban from those who joined their ranks, not out of conviction but out of desperation," Clinton said in an address laying out the new U.S. strategy for the region that President Obama announced last week.

She added, "They should be offered an honorable form of reconciliation and reintegration into a peaceful society if they are willing to abandon violence, break with al Qaeda and support the constitution."

Clinton spoke at a conference aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan and jump-starting political support for the war-torn country. More than 80 countries and international organizations are attending.

Last Friday, Obama unveiled his decision to send an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan to increase training for the Afghan army and police force. They will be joined by hundreds of civilian specialists such as agricultural experts, educators and engineers. The increase comes on top of an earlier announcement to send 17,000 additional troops to battle a resurgent Taliban insurgency.

Clinton said the United States is sending $40 million toward securing a free and fair presidential election later this year, although she has insisted the United States would not support or endorse a candidate. Video Watch an Afghan's outlook for stabilizing his country »

On Sunday, Afghanistan's supreme court ruled that President Hamid Karzai will remain in office until the election.
Karzai's term is up in May, but the independent commission that will oversee the election has set it for August 20. The court's decision found that allowing Karzai to remain in power until that vote "is in the interest of the Afghan people and state, and it is also consistent with the spirit and interpretation of the constitution."

Karzai was named head of a provisional government after the U.S.-led invasion that dislodged the Taliban in 2001. Then he won an interim term in 2002 and a full term in 2004.

He is seeking a new term in August. But his government has come under increasing criticism for corruption and inefficiency, and an earlier effort to move the elections up to April drew criticism from opposition groups and the United States.

Clinton directed some not-so subtle criticism at Karzai's regime, saying there must be a government that is "legitimate and respected" with no room for corruption

"Corruption is a cancer -- as dangerous to our long-term success as the Taliban or al Qaeda," she said. "A government that cannot deliver for its people is a terrorist's best recruiting tool."

Addressing the conference Tuesday, Karzai renewed a commitment to fight corruption, provide good governance and counter the country's rampant drug trade.

"There can be no doubt our commitment and resolve," he said.

Karzai praised the new U.S. strategy for his country and said he hoped Obama's leadership will inspire more cooperation from Afghanistan's allies.

Meanwhile, a U.S. envoy spoke Tuesday to a senior Iranian official on the sidelines of the conference, the first direct contact between the two nations during the Obama administration, Clinton said.

Richard Holbrooke, the administration's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, had "a brief and candid exchange" with the head of the Iranian delegation, and the two men agreed to stay in touch, Clinton said.

Clinton said she has had no direct contact with the Iranians but had provided them with a letter in which she asked Tehran to release two Americans and to look for another, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, missing in Iran since March 2007.

Earlier this month, Obama delivered a message to the Iranian people on their new year, calling for better relations. Senior U.S. officials have said cooperation on Afghanistan could provide such an opening.

In his address to the conference, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Medhi Akhundzadeh said his country was "fully prepared" to cooperate on reconstruction and drug trafficking, but he warned the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan has not improved security.

He urged the participants to focus on reconstruction and "refrain ... from giving priority to political or military matters."

Clinton urged Tehran to play a positive role in helping stabilize its neighbor.

"The fact that they accepted the invitation to come suggests that they believe there is a role for them to play, and we're looking forward to hearing more about that," she said Monday.

Clinton noted Iran's history of cooperating with the United States on Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion on issues such as border security and counter narcotics

"Trafficking in narcotics, the spread of violent extremism, economic stagnation, water management, electrification and irrigation are regional challenges that will require regional solutions," she told the audience.

Clinton said the United States would seek to impose greater measures of accountability in the aid programs to "trace the investment and the payoff for the American taxpayers and for the people on the ground."

"We recognize we're starting at a point where there is very little credibility for a lot of what's already been invested," she said. "There are good programs within governments and good programs within [nongovernmental organizations], but it is fair to say overall they have been a disappointment. And we know that, and we're going to have to try to get that fixed."

The U.S. strategy also emphasizes the need to combat extremism in western Pakistan, a partnership Clinton called "critical."

"Together, we must give Pakistan the tools it needs to fight these extremists," she said.
She reaffirmed the administration's support for legislation authorizing "$1.5 billion in direct support to the Pakistani people every year over the next five years -- resources that will build schools, roads and hospitals and strengthen the Pakistani government."

She urged participants to support Pakistan at a donors' conference next month hosted by Japan

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