Hamas, Fatah resume reconciliation talks

Egypt, the main broker of Palestinian reconciliation, has been extending invitations to various Palestinian factions for further discussion on problems impeding the formation of a Palestinian national unity government.

 A meeting has already taken place in Cairo between Egyptian intelligence officials and representatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second most important PLO faction after Fatah.

 Rabah Muhanna, a PFLP spokesman in Gaza, said the Egyptians were holding meetings with factional leaders and discussing ways and means to overcome problems hindering the formation of a new Palestinian government that would be acceptable to all factions, especially Fatah and Hamas.

 Muhanna said the interim Egyptian leadership, despite its own internal troubles, was devoting real attention to the issue of Palestinian reconciliation, adding that the Palestinian situation was always and would always be a matter of Egyptian national security.

 A number of Palestinian officials have dismissed reports and rumours that the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is not particularly enthusiastic about pursuing reconciliation talks with Hamas at a time when the PA is planning to seek international support for UN recognition of a Palestinian State.

 “We don’t think that the two tracts—national reconciliation and seeking UN recognition—contradict each other; we think they complement each other,” said Azzam al-Ahmed, head of Fatah parliamentary caucus in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

 He went on to say that the Palestinians could not achieve their national goals without real national reconciliation.

 “The persistence of division is an Israeli interest. This is the reason why Israel lost composure when the initial reconciliation agreement was signed in Cairo a few months ago.”

 Another Fatah leader, Mahmoud Alul, a former Governor of Nablus, said the PA would have to form the new government before September.

 “We cannot go to the UN divided and disunited. We must form the new government as soon as possible.”

 Alul said contacts with Hamas were continuing and that positive results were expected soon.

 Meanwhile, a delegation of independent Palestinian figures from both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, headed by Dr. Yasser Wadyeh, met in mid-July in Ramallah with Yasser Uthman, the Egyptian ambassador to the PA.

 Wadyeh described the meeting as positive and fruitful, adding that discussions centred on getting the reconciliation agreement implemented.

 Ambassador Uthman reportedly told the delegates the Egyptian leadership was going to extend invitations to Palestinian factions for further discussion of the reconciliation issue.

 Wadyeh said the Palestinian people and their just cause suffered immensely as a result of the division.

 In a related development, the Turkish government has invited representatives of Fatah and Hamas for reconciliation talks in Ankara. The talks are expected to complement ongoing Egyptian efforts to save the initial Cairo reconciliation agreements between the two largest Palestinian factions.

 Turkey presently has good relations with both Hamas and the PA leadership and is widely seen as showing concern for the collective Palestinian good. Moreover, there have been unsubstantiated reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan is planning a visit to Gaza to identify with the Palestinian people.

 In a significant overture, which some observers contend reflects Hamas’s commitment to reconciliation with Fatah, Palestinian Islamist leaders have extended their support for PA plans to seek recognition of a putative Palestinian State in September.

 Aziz Dweik, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said Hamas was fully supporting the Palestinian efforts at the United Nations. He warned against succumbing to American and Israeli pressures, saying the resumption of “futile peace talks” would be a reproduction of the same failure and same disappointment the Palestinians experienced during many years of useless talks with Israel.

 “The Americans and Israel believe that the PA leadership is easy to bully, easy to blackmail, easy to control. The leadership must demonstrate to the Palestinian people and to friends and foes alike that we do not succumb to pressure and that American and Israeli bullying will not make us abandon our paramount national goals.”

 Dweik urged PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to include Palestinian factions in the decision-making process pertaining to plans to seek UN recognition.

 “This is a matter of immense strategic importance for the Palestinian people and its cause. The PA leadership should consult with the elected representatives of the Palestinian people as to the most appropriate ways and means to achieve national goals.”

 Despite efforts to draw a somewhat positive picture of the internal Palestinian arena, certain measures continued to mar and spoil relations between Fatah and Hamas.

 In mid-July, the Palestinian security agencies in the Hebron region dismissed six schoolteachers on suspicion of affiliation with Hamas.

 Such “provocations,” coupled with the continued incarceration of Hamas activists in the West Bank are bound to maintain a state of mutual mistrust between the two movements and consequently undermine reconciliation efforts.

 Fatah, which more or less dominates the PA government in Ramallah, claims it has nothing to do with “security measures” taken by the government of Salam Fayyad against Hamas’ sympathizers.

 Hamas says Fatah must show national responsibility and either publicly condemn the continued crackdown on Hamas or withdraw support from Fayyad.