Palestinians on a dangerous path

ARMED CLASHES between pro-Abbas faction and Hamas fighters in Gaza and other Palestinian areas are indeed ominous. The sweeping victory to power of Hamas (which refuses to recognise the Jewish state) in Palestinian polls in March last has made matters worse for the future of Palestinians. From Day One, President’s Abbas’s Al-Fatah felt uncomfortable with the turn of events against them, Using his powers under the Constitution, President Abbas has called for early elections which Hamas is opposing. Abbas’s move for early polls has received support from Israel and the U.S. who want to see the influence of Hamas, dubbed by them as a terrorist organization, diminish in the Palestinian areas paving the way for the negotiated settlement of the Middle East crisis.
On Saturday, armed attack on the bodyguards of President Abbas left one soldier killed. Three other civilians including a 10-year girl also perished in sporadic clashes. Hamas-nominated Prime Minister Ismail Haniya’s convoy was also attacked presumably by fighters loyal to Al-Fatah. The Hamas called the incident as an assassination attempt. This indicates that Palestinian factions have decided to settle the issue through use of force. Hamas-dominated Parliament Members have nevertheless called upon people “not to use arms to solve political issues and not to take the political issues to the street”. However, despite these appeals for sanity, things are getting out of control as factional fighting escalates.
It seems early polls call has triggered factional fight which may develop into a civil war. President Abbas has struggled to form a national unity Government composed of technocrats to avoid what could be the third elections for the Palestinian Authority set up in 1994. Hamas-led Government has faced a Western freeze after it was formed. The Palestinian Administration stands almost paralyzed after Western powers stopped financial assistance. Mahmoud Abbas genuinely wants to avoid mounting difficulties. However, Hamas supporters feel that President Abbas is toeing Western policies. No wonder, the fighters from rival factions have proceed to settle the issue through use of force.
This does not augur well for Palestinians nor does it promote the cause of peace in the Middle East. With Iraq burning and bleeding, Palestinians’ in- fighting has diminished the prospects of the settlement of the Middle East crisis which is the major cause of the international terrorism.
The Palestinians’ in-fighting serves the cause of their enemies. The Arab League should immediately step in to calm matters. It must be seriously considered as to whether early polls call given by President Abbas only nine months after Hamas swept to power was the only option or the Parliament should decide political issues rather than various factions taking resort to arms to impose their will on their adversaries. The responsibility of quelling violence rests entirely n the shoulders of Palestinian leadership.

Dawn of wisdom in Iraq, finally

COMMON sense at last appears to have dawned on the present rulers of Iraq. At a national reconciliation conference in Baghdad yesterday, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki reached out to the alienated Sunni community, appealing to ex officers and other top guns of Saddam Hussein era army and security forces to join Iraq’s newly raised army.
In the chaos following the US invasion, this newspaper and other Arab and Middle Eastern media had repeatedly warned the US-led coalition against messing with the security structure and upsetting the balance of power in Iraq. However, the hubris and myopia that accompanied the invasion eventually resulted in the disbanding of the Iraqi army, one of the best in the region, just as the rest of the government machinery collapsed.
Iraq has paid a monumental price for that incredibly shortsighted and disastrous move.
Insurgent groups and Shia militias effortlessly stepped into this political and security vacuum to unleash the most horrific destruction on Iraq’s unsuspecting people. More than half a million precious lives have already been lost, not to mention the exodus of hundred thousand plus people every month to neighbouring countries.
This is why Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s appeal to Sunni political parties and former military officers is significant. Iraq would have been spared much bloodshed, if its leaders had realised this earlier. Nevertheless, the move is welcome.
However, none of this will work if the government and the governing Shia alliance do not rein in the numerous militias being run and controlled by political parties that are part of the alliance. Moqtada Sadr’s group that has substantial presence in parliament and literally controls the government of Prime Minister Maliki is seen as being responsible for most of the sectarian killings in Sunni neighbourhoods. Scores of bodies with their hands tied behind their backs are daily discovered in Baghdad’s Sunni neighbourhoods.
The Iraqi government and its American minders cannot win the trust and confidence of the Sunni community and parties unless their security concerns are adequately addressed. Prime Minister Maliki will have to assert himself and control allies like Sadr if he wants to be seen as the leader of Iraqi people, not the guardian of a particular sect. Only honesty of intentions and commitment to fairness and justice can bring back peace and order to Iraq.

—Arab News