The new Palestinian president's visit to the Gaza Strip was not as welcome as he hoped, Serene Assir reports from Gaza On Tuesday, President Mahmoud Abbas (known by his nom-de-guerre Abu Mazen) arrived in Gaza to hold talks with the armed Palestinian militias, seeking to limit the armed resistance against the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and the illegal settlements. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades spokesmen, however, told Al-Ahram Weekly prior to the president's arrival that they have no intention of letting up until the Israeli occupation ends. On Tuesday evening, as though to emphasise the point to the new leadership, Hamas staged a suicide operation near the Khan Younis refugee camp, in which one Israeli soldier was killed. And throughout the week, following the joint Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades-Hamas suicide operation at an Israeli checkpoint and the severing of communications by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with Abu Mazen, there have been a series of violent Israeli incursions across the Gaza Strip accompanied by the closure of checkpoints, forbidding the entry or exit of persons, food and goods. Sharon gave free rein to the IOF in Gaza, and so far, many local citizens believe the only reason why a total military incursion has not taken place seems to be pressure exerted by the United States on the Israeli leadership to give the new PA leader a chance. However, Abu Mazen faces problems from both the militant Palestinian militias and the Israelis. Although his electoral victory was sweeping, the real factor by which his success as leader will be assessed over the coming months is whether he can guarantee the security of the Palestinian people. So far, although he has only been in power for a matter of days, many Gazans are already losing hope that he will make things any better for them, given the reality on the ground. "How can we hope for any improvement in our situation, with or without Abu Mazen? How will he succeed where Abu Ammar [Yasser Arafat] failed?" Soha, a student from Gaza City, told the Weekly. "No, I don't think things will get any better. I don't think a man like him can stop Israeli incursions, or make our economy -- which is dependent on the checkpoints being open -- improve. Not if his predecessor couldn't." The reasons for such pessimism are varied. On one hand, many feel resentful that Abu Mazen aims to limit the activities of the militias. "I don't like him, I didn't vote for him, he wants to stop the muqawama," said Amr, a market stall owner in his 20s. Others understand that Abu Mazen was, internationally, the favoured candidate, "but now look at what is happening. We all thought things would get better, because Israel, the US and the European Union all wanted him in. In fact, that's why many of us voted for him in the first place, because we thought that he would bring us peace," Amjad, an Islamic youth leader, told the Weekly. "But the Israelis haven't relented after all on their attacks, and what I know for certain is that Abu Mazen is not strong enough to withstand their pressure and make true the demands of the Palestinian people. He has no bargaining power, and he has no personal power. He is in no position to help us now." "One shouldn't be too quick to judge him," said Ahmed, a clothes shop owner. "He's only been in power for a few days." "But in fact, if you notice, rather than get better as the political situation seemed to hint, things are getting even worse!" contested Amjad. "The incursions have been constant and scattered throughout Gaza, and now Abu Mazen is here to ask the militias to stop attacking the settlements? It's an impossible situation for him diplomatically, and for us practically." "Things have been terrible over the past few days," agreed Hanan, mother of six. "He's arrived in Gaza, hasn't he? Well, inshaallah things will get better for us, but I don't see how he'll be the one to bring peace to our land and to give us justice." Following a few moments of silence in our interview, she began to speak of the terror of living in the Gaza camps. "My mother, who lives in Khan Younis, is scared to death of leaving her house, especially at night." "Only God can save us," said Hamdi, a Bedouin woman in her 60s living in a tent in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, which suffered from a heavy incursion killing five. "My son was shot in the leg, I saw two women die right before my eyes." The area in which five families of Palestinian Bedouins live lay open to the fire shot by the IOF. "Who can help us? No man, only God, we can only pray. But while we live, we are terrified," Mohamed, aged 10, told the Weekly. "After all those years," said Gazan reporter Mohamed in the city centre, "after all that insistence by the US and Israel that there was no Palestinian partner for peace, we've finally got one. Now, however, it seems there is no Israeli partner." And after all, in Middle Eastern politics, as Amjad said, "it's Israel, not any Palestinian leader, that calls the shots."
