With Egypt in the post-revolutionary phase, Hamas might become closer to the West Bank than it was while in the lap of the Syrian-Iranian rejectionism axis. And in light of the distance with Damascus, Meshaal has become closer to Ramallah than to the alliance with Khamenei. But what is certain is that Ismail Haniyeh is racing Meshaal to win the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood group, and the mind of President Muhammad Morsi, in order to launch a new round of the conflict with head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas.
It might be a mere coincidence for accusations of betrayal to be made from Gaza against the president of the authority which is threatened with financial bankruptcy, at a time when Haniyeh is rejuvenating his government with the winds of the Arab spring in Cairo. It might also be a coincidence for accusations to be cast against Abbas amid calls for his prosecution due to his shortcomings at the level of his national loyalty to Palestine, and for a fierce campaign to be launched against the arrests that targeted elements from Hamas in the West Bank and which seemed to have succeeded in provoking the first crisis between Abbas and Cairo, in parallel to the meeting - “mistake” - between Egyptian Prime minister Hisham Qandil and Haniyeh who came from Gaza on the back of the Muslim Brotherhood horse.
The issue of the unification of Palestinian representation is resurfacing, but this time a few days prior to Abbas’ presentation of a request for Palestine’s acceptance as a non-member state at the United Nations. And while the natural outcome of the new round of tensions between the authority and Hamas is the extension of Palestinian division, on a more dangerous level, it grants the Israeli right wing additional weapons to undermine the legitimacy of the request. Moreover, it allows Republican candidate to the American presidency Mitt Romney new pretexts to please the Jewish lobby in the United States, and prosecute a persecuted population suffering occupation and division on an Israeli guillotine.
Hamas is growing closer to January 25. So, how can it facilitate the blackmail party in the United States before Netanyahu and the government of Judaization and the occupation of the land? There are two courses for the equation: either end division and end the partition of Palestine into several Palestines, or revive the power frenzy which would spare Israel the trouble of proceeding with the project that aims at ending the “dream of establishing a state” and limit it to the management of the conflict between militias.
Hamas wishes to arrange the Palestinian home before the parliamentary and presidential elections. For its part, the authority perceives these elections as being a passageway for full reconciliation. And between the disputes over the priorities, it does not hurt Hamas to appear to be navigating once again on the sailboat of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, while the other party can reach the conclusions it wants regarding the movement’s reliance on Morsi instead of Khamenei and Al-Assad.
As for Abbas, who is said to be indifferent about his stay in the presidency and the bitterness of reconciliation, he is certainly the first one to be besieged. Indeed, Israel does not trust his peaceful intentions and is instigating the Americans to stifle his authority. Washington on the other hand has not spared an effort to thwart his attempts, while Hamas does not mind burying whichever agreement it reached with him as soon as its negotiators return to the Strip that is “blockaded” with tunnels and stray rockets! It is as though the Gaza of the poor is a shooting arena to remind them of the price of the resistance, whenever they forget the difference between a rejectionist authority and another seeking the establishment of a state.
Which is a priority? The “home” or the state? The resistance or the authority? A non-rejectionist diplomat mentioned economic and livelihood facts putting pressure on the institutions in Ramallah and the government, which could be summarized by the $400 million budgetary deficit. As for the donors’ conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, it might become an opportunity to trade with the authority.
Also according to the diplomat, the other side of the story features a financial surplus generated by the tunnels that allowed the emergence of 1,800 millionaires, all of whom are operating smuggling mafias of all sorts of products into Gaza. The latter are living off the poor who are awaiting a reconciliation that is not coming and constitute the arena for the Israeli raids.
What will Hamas be like following the Arab spring? We start with a round of accusations of treason, as a rehearsal to rejuvenate the resistance in the “state” of the prosperous tunnels.
Is the movement aware of the lessons and status of the spring? Poverty is spreading, so why are the poor in the Strip complaining? Mass killings are taking place around the region, and they are much worse than what is being committed by Israel. As for the Israeli bullets, they are pushing for mobilization to arrange the “home” by force.
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