Rival Palestinian Factions to Hold Talks in Mecca

The Palestinian people have been screwed over by both the Israeli government and their own leaders for the better part of six decades. They are now at a crossroads where things can actually get much worse. Over the past couple of weeks, 60 people in the Gaza Strip have died in fighting between Fatah and Hamas militias. A cease-fire has been in place since Saturday, but it’s a bit rickety. Both sides are due to meet in Mecca to discuss the situation. Mecca may well be the most appropriate place to meet since a miracle is needed.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah have been struggling over the leadership of the Palestinians since the death of Arafat, and the last elections gave Hamas the upper hand. Unfortunately, the outside world thinks less of Hamas than the people who elected it to power. As a result, rather intense pressure (including the temporary withholding of tax revenue by the Israelis) has been part of the equation. A deadlock is in place, and in the occupied territories, a deadlock politically allows the men with automatic rifles room to act.

As with everything else Palestinian, trouble spreads to the neighboring countries starting with Israel and eventually making everyone’s day miserable. A Palestinian civil war, even a low-grade sort, would mean an end to any peace talks with Israel; with whom would the Israelis talk? This undermines Israeli security, and when the Zionist government gets nervous, it tends to lash out (the war with Hezbollah last summer comes to mind as an example). This, in turn, annoys the Arab nations, whose regimes are secretly glad of the distraction from their own internal disasters, and who ratchet up the animosity. And another round of hostility is inevitable.

The meeting in Mecca under the auspices of the Saudis is not the first such attempt to plaster over the differences between the two Palestinian groups. Egypt, Syria and Qatar have tried to broker some kind of deal, but these discussions went nowhere. The Saudis, with their money and their religious standing as guardians of Islam’s holiest sites, may have better luck. They certainly would like to fill the power vacuum that seems to exist in the Sunni world.

A robust debate about the situation fills the Arab press. The most insightful comment came from Muhammad Rumaihi in Oman’s Al-Watan, by way of a BBC translation, “If Palestinians have lost the will and ability to agree, no force, whether Egyptian or Saudi, will be able to implant such a national will in them.” Maybe they have not lost that will yet, Inshallah.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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