The guy from Damascus
Smadar Peri wonders why Hamas has not yet questioned Khaled Mashaal’s authority
Imagine the following situation: The president of one of the Jewish organizations in the United States insists on vetoing a decision by Israel’s security cabinet. Let’s suppose, for example, that our government ministers convene in order to discuss a super-sensitive matter, but a voice from thousands of kilometers away insists on rejecting the decision, demands modifications, and jeopardizes a vital deal.
En route to jeopardizing this deal, they are also threatening to stop providing funds and put an end to aid programs, while sentencing our citizens to a miserable existence.
This is what’s happening at this time between Gaza and Damascus. There is no debating that Gaza wishes to rid itself of the nightmare and cut a deal that would prompt not only a prisoner release but also the opening of border crossings and the leveraging of Hamas’ status vis-à-vis Abbas. Yet Khaled Mashaal is trimming his fingernails, so he can wave his hands to the camera and flash the victory sign. En route to the cameras, he doesn’t care much about what Gaza’s politicians and leaders recommend.
Mashaal wants almost everything, and as far as he’s concerned the world can go to hell if he doesn’t get it. Nothing is urgent, Shalit is fine, and the prisoners are not dying from hunger. The families are exerting pressure? Not on him. He’s inaccessible. Meanwhile he can give the German mediator the runaround for a little longer.
And what about the million and a half Gaza residents under siege in the “city of tunnels”? (That too will end soon thanks to Egypt’s iron wall.) Well, Mashaal only cares about Mashaal’s honor. He dreams of a deal that will bring him glory. In his speech he will say “we won,” “stubbornness pays off,” and will make sure to include the inflammatory threat to continue abducting Israelis.
Khaled Mashaal has become a leader by coincidence; a hitchhiker of circumstances. He is a hoodlum from nowhere who started off as an administrator and somehow managed to survive and move up. He has no charisma, his vocabulary is limited and lacks vision, and he has no religious record. He doesn’t even have proven terror experience.
Had it not been for the failed assassination attempt by Mossad agents, nobody would have heard about him.
Bunch of exiles
Mashaal also never made an effort to see Gaza from up close. Just like his aides, he knows the area from his couch and through the television screen. This group, which marks names of prisoners, never even spent time in jail. Its members have become accustomed to the good life in Kuwait, Jordan, and Qatar. Hospitality is not too bad in Damascus either, as long as they respect the rules of the game: As long as Hamas does not interfere in Syria’s affairs, Bashar Assad doesn’t bother them.
Now they are sitting at closed door meetings, exactly like our top seven ministers were doing. They bring in advisors and experts (including an Iranian intelligence representative) in order o come up with an answer. And as is the custom with them, there is no vote. The Gaza delegation is eager for a deal, but Mashaal will be making the call, while Tehran breathes down his neck and yells in his ear. Get more names, don’t give up, and reject the expulsion proposal in favor of a time-limited exile.
Based on his personal experience, Mashaal is familiar with upscale expulsion: he was thrown out of Jordan twice, but there were people who ensured that he will enjoy a convenient life in Qatar, so that he will sit there quietly. Had they stuck him in Gaza, he would lose contact with his family and Israel would try to assassinate him again. If he would have survived, the local leadership would have moved him. Who is he even?
It is unclear why a babbling bunch of exiles will be making the decision on the swap deal rather than the local Gaza leadership – regardless of what we think about it. Mashaal, just like Nasrallah, is seeking to get more from the mediator. If it won’t work out, someone will put away his well-ironed shirt and kick out the photographers. Gaza will go back to Gaza, and the Egyptian iron wall will deepen the frustration and fury.
For the time being, nobody in Gaza dares ask why they even need to take orders from this man.
