Continue the solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against occupation
With notable exceptions, much of the pro-Palestinian solidarity movement seems dumb-stricken by the developments on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank. This silence on the recent situation threatens to shatter what has been built up of solidarity work with the Palestinian resistance against the occupation.
A majority has chosen either to abstain completely from taking a stand on which forces represents the Palestinian liberation struggle, or, even worse, chosen to align themselves with the Fatah leadership. Behind Abbas and Mohammed Dahlan, Abbas’ security chief who was routed from Gaza are Israeli and American interests who seek to destroy the resistance and create a permanent state of civil war between Palestinians. The last American initiative for a “peace conference” is nothing but a framework for securing a collaborationist Palestinian “leadership” willing to administer the occupation of the West Bank and ensure the closure and total isolation of Gaza and the resistant Hamas government.
The disbanding of the Hamas government and the replacement of it by a loyal group of supporters to President Abbas led by Salim Fayyad is completely illegal both from the legislative framework of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the representative body of the Palestinian liberation struggle, the PLO.
The Palestinian Basic Law, which is what resembles a “constitution” of the so-called self-governed areas of the West Bank and Gaza clearly puts upon the President who dissolves a government to ask the parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), for support for his new government of choice within one month. This has not been taken into effect, and of course would not be in a parliament dominated by a clear majority from Hamas. Thus the new government duly sworn in by Hamas lacks any legal framework.
With regards to the PLO, Abbas and his leadership cannot bear any claim to legitimacy. While Arafat might, in spite of his un-democratic practices, enjoyed a certain historical legitimacy as the leader of the Palestinian people, Abbas cannot boast of any such thing. PLO has not assembled since 1998 and neither have there been elections to its executive bodies. The PLO of nowadays is not representative of anyone, neither inside nor outside Palestine. Rather, it’s an instrument that the current Fatah-leadership, which neither is democratically elected by it’s own members, use as they please to grant themselves a fig-leave of legitimacy.
In this situation solidarity movement cannot stay silent. While we don’t need Western activists and politicians to meddle with the affairs of the Palestinians, we neither need a movement that cannot respond to the direst needs of an oppressed people. The resistant government of Ismail Haniyye is fighting an urgent struggle against the collaborationists of the old Fatah leadership, Israel, the US and their complacent Arabic dictators.
The Abbas clique are trying to isolate Hamas completely, even intervening against a proposal for a UN Security Council statement against the closure on the Gaza strip. Hamas is further facing complete internationa isolation, with the Arabic dictators turning their face against them and Putin closing the door on the bilateral relations between Russia and the elected Palestinian government.
To side with Abbas and his non-elected and non-representative government is to openly side with the occupation. There can be no talk of any pro-Palestinian groups who refuse to openly condemn the anti-national and collaborative stance of this government.
The current gang of coup-makers around the Palestinian president is not synonymous with the whole Fatah movement. Among the rank and file there are many steadfast and national militants who refuse the decrees of the new, non-elected government to lay down arms and stop the resistance. In fact, one of the most positive outcomes of this national crisis is a recent sign of military cooperation between the Fatah-sponsored al-Aqsa brigades, PFLP and Hamas on the West Bank. However, a red line needs to be drawn against the collaborationist policies of the leadership.
After the elections of Hamas into government some international analysists pointed to the possibility that this could put new vigour into the Fatah movement and force it to a more open and democratic practices. But today’s dynamics speak otherwise. A democratization of the movement requires either toppling or splitting from the current leadership.
Most of the pro-Palestinian movements have chosen not to align themselves with anyone and in fact abstain from taking a stand in the current conflict. They tend to issue calls for “national unity” and the “reconstruction of the PLO”. While correct in theory, these would remain empty slogans unless they are applied on the current situation. While there’s a dire need of Palestinian national unity, there’s no way to achieve this without distinguishing between those who resist and those who aid the occupation.
A possible compromise between Hamas and the non-elected Fatah government would in fact produce only a setback for the struggle. This does of course not imply that Hamas shouldn’t introduce reconciliatory measures to correct what wrongdoings the movement may have made during their takeover in Gaza.
What regards the PLO, all Palestinian factions agree that it needs to be rebuilt. However the PLO could never claim legitimacy without including the majority of the Palestinian resistance, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In reality this means that the PLO of tomorrow cannot be a continuum today’s PLO of today, nor a return to the structures which existed before the establishment of the PA. It would have to be rebuilt as a completely new body, representing the democratic will of all the Palestinian people and it’s factions. Hamas has repeatedly called for this.
As such, proclamatory calls for unity is not enough. The dire need is simple: Break the isolation of the democratically elected and resistant Hamas government. Continue the support for the Palestinian resistance.
This doesn’t imply to side with Hamas in all and everything. But it implies an active stand to support the struggle of the Palestinian people. In 2006, European activists made initiatives to invite Hamas to visit their countries and had some success, most notably in Norway. These calls should now be re-iterated. We need an active stand and we need it now.
Lars Akerhaug
member of the Frontlines magazine editorial board, Norway
supporter of the Antiimperialist Camp
