Palestinians to Hold Peace Talks with Palestinians

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestine Liberation Organization chief and likely successor to Yasser Arafat, held peace talks late Monday and yesterday. There were, however, no Israelis in earshot of the negotiations. For those who thought the death of Mr. Arafat would open up the possibility of a comprehensive settlement, the events of Tuesday should have deflated their balloon. Mr. Abbas held talks with no fewer than 14 Palestinian groups. Getting the Israelis and Palestinians to agree will be only slightly harder than getting the Palestinians to agree among themselves.

Part of the problem is the moribund nature of Palestinian politics. There has not been a general election among Palestinians since 1996, and far too much has happened since then for any of the official body to have much legitimacy. Meanwhile, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have much more influence on the street than they had eight years ago. Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar has said his organization wants a general election, and if granted, his group’s strength will weaken Fatah, the political “party” of Mr. Abbas, and Mr. Arafat’s power base.

Hamas has also said that it will not halt the suicide attacks against Israel until the Israelis stop their raids and assassinations in Palestinian-controlled territory. This puts Mr. Abbas in a very tight position. If he tries to get Hamas to yield, he undermines his own position in the eyes of many by doing the Israelis’ work for them. And if he lines up with Hamas, the Sharon government may well decide it doesn’t want to work with him any more than it did with Mr. Arafat.

According to the Palestinian constitution, a document steeped in weeks and months of tradition, the current President of the non-state is parliament speaker Rawhi Fattouh. He will serve as caretaker until a presidential election (but not necessarily a parliamentary one) can be held by January 9. Thus far, Mr. Abbas is the likely winner (especially since former security chief Mohammed Dahlan announced he didn’t want the job and would back Mr. Abbas), but there are others who had thrown their keffiyahs into the ring. Fatah grassroots leader Marwan Barghouthi is one such, despite currently residing in an Israeli prison. University professor Abdel Sattar Qassem, who criticized the corrupt rule of Mr. Arafat, is a nuisance candidate (but deserves accolades for having had the guts to tell the truth about Mr. Arafat). And Talal Sader, ex-sports minister and religious affairs adviser to Mr. Arafat, is probably just trying for a cushy cabinet post. Still, the Palestinian electorate is coming to grips with Mr. Arafat’s death, and anything is possible.

The difficult part for whomever the people elect will be to make peace with the Israelis (who haven’t demonstrated that they really want it either) while at the same time proving himself not to be a sell-out. Even it this high-wire act is possible, it won’t happen overnight.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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