Mahmoud Abbas' address Saturday met with great concern among Palestinians despite the Fatah movement's elation. Everyone knows the worst is yet to come.
It is not at all certain that Abbas intends to fire the Haniyeh cabinet, dissolve the Hamas parliament and hold early elections. His speech contains a tactical dimension aimed at pressuring Hamas to promote a national unity government. It seems, however, that he has missed the boat.
Following a weekend of violence and counter violence, the chance of establishing such a cabinet is almost zero. In my opinion there was never such an option anyway.
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| Abbas declares elections to be moved up / Ali Waked |
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President gives speech in Ramallah, says will hold early elections for presidency, government ; decries recent violent acts by Hamas, says Qassams destroyed dream of Gaza progress. Speech boycotted by Hamas members |
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The tensions between the two camps are immense, and the militants in each camp are anxious for combat and arming themselves with whatever is available.
Subsequently, current events will force Abbas to act on his announcement calling for early elections, which will result in an all-out explosion. This is a severe development for the Palestinian community.
Hamas will not, under any circumstances, allow Fatah and Abbas to nullify their great achievement of legally taking control of the parliament and cabinet. As far as Hamas is concerned, this is not just a Palestinian development, but a pan-Arab one, a precedent for a political Islamic takeover of an Arab nation.
If Hamas finds it has no choice, it will protect this achievement by use of physical force, and it has such force. This is what transpires when a non-democratic movement comes to power by democratic means. Since the elections, Hamas has shown no interest in democracy, which it believes could bring about its downfall.
I do not recall such a harsh exchange of accusations between the Hamas and Fatah camps that came in wake of a series of horrific murders that truly shocked the Palestinian people. Murder and counter murders, shootings, accusations, harsh curses and explicit threats. It is likely that Abbas, without being aware of it, actually brought the Palestinians closer to an overall decline.
And indeed, unfortunately for the Palestinians, the choice they have ranges from bad to worse.
Just a few years ago the world was their oyster, Israel was a generous neighbor, Europe smiled at them and America supported them. But they skillfully managed to squander all the credit the world had given them.
The Palestinians could have founded a thriving and prosperous state alongside one of the strongest economies in the world - Israel. However, they opted to become a new Somalia with a militia war, a failing economy, "eye for an eye" killings and a desolate future.
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