Would Hamas lift the siege?

[oberliner]

Excerpt:

The Israeli siege on Gaza was part of that heavy price, because Gaza had gone its own separate way, beneath the banner -- and political and religious domination -- of Hamas. Curiously, both Israel, Hamas and other groups in the West that never see eye-to-eye with each other have joined forces in the attempt to paint Egypt as a guilty party in this picture. For the sake of the historical record, it should be stressed that Egypt exercised no end of patience and self-restraint as it withstood a mass storming of its borders and saw its sovereignty perforated with tunnels to permit the smuggling of arms in both directions between Gaza and Sinai, and the infiltration of the elements needed to create militia cells to threaten the Suez Canal. Perhaps what was even more difficult for the Egyptian authorities that do not deal with the Muslim Brotherhood as a legitimate political group inside Egypt was the de facto reality of their rule in Gaza. In practical terms, Egypt's policy here translates into respect for international rules that regulate relations between Gaza and its neighbours while refusing to allow for the strangulation of Gaza and the destruction of human life there.

Hamas played the second greatest part, after Israel, in the implementation and perpetuation of the siege on Gaza. Regardless of what one might say about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of its coup and its complete rejection of all proposals for intra-Palestinian reconciliation (including those it had initially approved), Hamas adamantly and persistently refused to allow any PA presence at the Gaza crossings, of which six are at the borders with Israel and only one along the border with Egypt, at Rafah. It even rejected the Egyptian proposal that PA soldiers and representatives at the crossings be drawn from the inhabitants of Gaza who are under the iron fist of Hamas. The determination to supplant the PA at the crossings carried more weight with Hamas than the need to lift the blockade.

I have no idea what is going on in the heads of the people in Hamas. The central point of the Palestinian struggle for six decades was not to solve a refugee problem but to advance the cause of a people having a right to self-determination. This cause had reached a stage where aid and assistance was pouring in, in order to build the foundations and institutions of a forthcoming state. Then along came Hamas, which has so far succeeded in reverting the cause to where it had originally come from in the eyes of the world: a refugee and relief crisis, a humanitarian tragedy that required only maritime rescue missions. Israel was handed precisely what it wanted. After a few days of worldwide sympathy for the Palestinians, the Palestinian cause was completely redefined. Along with this change, the compass of sympathy shifted, the issues were blurred and confused, and Egypt and Turkey were dragged beneath the glare of censure and suspicion, in spite of the fact that the true aim and intent of both countries is to save Palestine from the abyss into which it has sunk.

The situation, now, is clear. Unless the Arabs and international parties pressure Israel not only into lifting the blockade but also into reopening avenues to the resuscitation and further development of Palestinian governing institutions, there will be another round in the conflict. Moreover, I do not believe that pressure will be effective unless Hamas makes the major strategic choice between its desire to hijack the PA without electoral legitimacy and the future of the whole Palestinian cause. Such critical decisions are difficult to make. In fact, it was the inability to respond to this type of challenge constructively that has led to the continued deterioration of the cause generation after generation.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1003/op1.htm

[Ken Burch]

1. That's a really odd headline they chose for that piece

It doesn't seem to fit the actual article.