Abbas winning abroad but losing at home
Palestinians are increasingly frustrated with the lack of a diplomatic process, however internal issues loom more ominously for Abbas: 'He's has worked very hard but has had few successes,' analyst says.
Palestinians say that when it comes to diplomacy abroad, nobody can challenge the 80 year old Mahmoud Abbas. But when it comes to tending to matters in the Palestinian territories, he doesn’t do so well.
In his speech to the United Nations Security council, the Palestinian leader accused Israel of conducting a “war of genocide” during the recent aggression on Gaza. The United States slammed Abbas speech as “offensive” and “counterproductive” for any future peace talks.
Palestinian analysts said Abbas was aiming at his home audience, where he was seen as not being tough enough on Israel during the summer’s fighting in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. But while Abbas has stature outside the West Bank, he is coming under growing criticism at home.
“He has gained among international parties, but failed on the internal issue. There is still division (between Abbas’s Fatah party and Hamas), no state institutions and a suspended Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC),” said Hasan Khresheh, Vice President of the PLC told The Media Line. “He has not worked hard enough on ending the division. The unity government is not functioning at all and if they don’t unite now, they will never be united.”
Khresheh says Abbas’s main agenda is returning to negotiations with Israel under the auspices of the Americans. But he said that most Palestinians have given up on bilateral negotiations with Israel, which have achieved little.
“Such negotiations will not bring rights to our people,” he said.
The fact that Abbas has been a key player in the Palestinian political process for years and hasn’t called it quits deserves recognition, he says.
“He works very well diplomatically, although he is under constant pressure from the United States and Israel,” he said.
Khresheh says that as nothing was gained since the UN recognized Israel as a non-member observer state two years ago, the Palestinian Authority should join other international bodies such as the International Criminal Court, or ICC. Israel has opposed this, fearing that it could be subject to war crimes trials.
Khalida Jarrar, a member of the small hard line group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP, says negotiations with Israel have not achieved anything and Abbas should pressure Israel via international organizations.
“I disagree with going back to negotiations,” she told The Media Line. Jarrar says action is needed, not more speeches.
“He is just delaying going to the International Criminal court. The ICC and sustaining Palestinian unity should be top priorities.”
In April, a unity deal between the previously bitter rivals of Fatah and Hamas was reached, although it has not been implemented. Last week, Palestinian representatives of Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo that the Palestinian unity government will extend its control to include the Gaza Strip. Hamas hopes that the new government will manage to pay the salaries of 45,000 employees who were added to the PA during Hamas’ control of Gaza since 2007.
Fatah senior foreign policy adviser Husam Zomlot says that bilateral talks with sole US sponsorship has failed the Palestinians for 21 years and only gotten them a “state of limbo.” He urged Israel to be more forthcoming in its negotiations with Abbas, who has long advocated a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
“The President believes firmly in the two state solution, and supports nonviolence,’ Zomlot told The Media Line. “This is an opportunity that if best will not repeat itself.”
The Fatah official says that a peace partner like Abbas, who has clear political horizon, may not come again.
London based researcher Abdullah Hamidaddin says the real question is how Abbas will manage the negotiations. “Abbas has worked very hard but has had few successes,” Hamidadaddin said.
“But he was not decisive enough in the last round of negotiations. He entered them after much hesitation, and then hesitated to make tough decisions,” like pulling out of the talks as Israel continued to expand construction in areas that Palestinians say must be part of a future Palestinian state.
Article written by Abdullah H. Erakat
Reprinted with permission from The Media Line
