Unity in the face of challenges in Lebanon and Palestine is one way of resolving the crises, writes Doaa El-Bey As fresh fighting continued between the Lebanese army and militants in Lebanon, and as Israel launched air raids against Gaza, and Palestinians were still engaged in inner fighting, calls for solidarity, unity and partnership were made repeatedly. The eruption of fighting between members of the Fatah Al-Islam group and the Lebanese army in Nahr Al-Bared camp for Palestinian refugees did not come as a surprise, as Salah Sallam wrote. Much was heard about the suspicious activities of the group in the past. The preliminary reading of the situation since the fighting began on "Black Sunday", as Sallam described it in the Lebanese daily Al-Liwaa, indicates there are plans to shake the stability and fan the flames of strife against the army and security forces in the north of Lebanon. Sallam believed it was not enough for Fatah to declare it has no relationship with Fatah Al-Islam. He called on the Palestinian leadership to take a firm and clear decision to return the situation in Nahr Al-Bared to normal or else the Lebanese security forces would be forced to take the situation into their own hands. He hailed the national consensus in Lebanon as it allowed the army and security forces to nip sectarian strife in the bud and prevent it from spreading. However, the Nahr Al-Bared incident cast light on the danger and deteriorating situation in Lebanon as a result of the present political crisis which is adversely affecting the economic and social ways of life. Sallam expressed his belief that the unity of all parties could resolve the Lebanese crisis. "Both the majority leaders and opposition should assume their national and historic responsibilities and work to find a suitable formula that could resolve the current political crisis and rush to protect the internal front from the dangers of conflict and division," he wrote in Al-Liwaa. Mohamed Salman agreed with Sallam that the causes of the Lebanese crisis could only be treated through understanding, dialogue and building mutual confidence among the various parties. "It is only through giving up our regional, sectarian, religious and political selfishness that we can have one united country. If we don't, our country will disintegrate and force us to spread out to the four corners of the globe," Salman wrote in Al-Liwaa. Elias Harfoush thought the clashes between the army and Fatah Al-Islam were expected after taking the issue to the Security Council instead of setting up an international tribunal. Some parties in Lebanon repeatedly threatened that taking the issue to the UN would pave the way for civil strife and the collapse of security and stability in Lebanon. In the London-based independent daily Al-Hayat, Harfoush wrote that it was not the first time that Lebanon faces an armed group that was dragged into internal fighting under slogans like "fighting the US sponsorship on Lebanon" or "confronting the international forces that are occupying Southern Lebanon". "Nahr Al-Bared is just a new chapter in threats against internal Lebanese security. It directly targeted the unity and solidarity of the army this time. It also aimed to shake its unified stand," Harfoush added. Just as calls for solidarity between the various parties in Lebanon to end the crisis was reiterated, agreement among the Palestinian factions was demanded. Khaled Walid Mahmoud pointed to the dangerous prospects of inter-Palestinian fighting which has already left dozens of dead and injured. In the Jordanian daily Al-Ghad, Mahmoud questioned what controls the Palestinian street: the security forces or warlords and other parties battling for influence? Whatever the answer, the crux of the matter is that infighting is taking the Palestinian issue towards an inevitable explosion after the conflict between Fatah and Hamas reached an unprecedented degree of complication and hollow contentions. The present situation, according to Mahmoud, could lead to catastrophic results because the "Palestinian gun" which is supposed to fight the Israelis is controlled by warlords and leaders who work according to external agendas. Ending the fighting should be the prime concern of all Palestinians and that should be achieved through mobilising all the national powers that ought to unanimously stand against such acrimony. "Those who are fighting for positions and personal interests should give up their battle in order to spare the Palestinians the horrors of chaos and civil war," Mahmoud wrote. "Can they do that?" Bilal Al-Hassan emphasised that inter-Palestinian fighting had an adverse effect on the Palestinian issue. Al-Hassan wrote in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat that when the Palestinians formed the national unity government, they aimed at entering into a complete political partnership. However, that partnership failed for two reasons: the failure of the Mecca declaration to lift the international embargo on the Palestinians, and Fatah's refusal to include the security issue in the partnership. As a result, inter- Palestinian fighting erupted. He added that the resolution of that crisis lies to a big extent in the hands of Fatah and President Mahmoud Abbas as the leader of the party. He can push towards complete partnership and cooperation in order to resolve all security problems. He also called on Abbas to appoint officials or counsellors who could establish a consensus within Fatah as that would make cooperation and understanding with Hamas easier in the framework of a national unity government. Ahmed Youssef Ahmed regarded the Palestinian fighting as an indication of the shortsightedness or lack of wisdom on the part of both Fatah and Hamas. As a result, the Palestinian people found themselves victims of both the Palestinian fighting and Israeli raids. Given the devastating impact of the fighting on the Palestinian issue, Ahmed wrote in the United Arab Emirates independent daily Al-Ittihad that recognition that there is an almost complete lack of trust between the two fighting parties is needed. Then Arab states, Palestinian civil societies as well as other Palestinian parties should intervene to bridge the gap. More important, 14 years after Oslo proved to be a failure, Palestinians should revise their national strategy. "Fatah and Hamas should notice they are fighting for something created by the occupation. It is an authority that managed to tame them by the Oslo accords and the Mecca agreement but were then pushed into fighting each other. An Israeli decision could destroy such an authority but the Palestinian resistance can never be destroyed." He warned that unless the Palestinian review their national strategy, the 60th anniversary of the 1948 Palestinian Nakba would be more devastating than the Nakba itself.
