Palestinian dialogue talks break up without agreement, leaving ordinary Palestinians bewildered and tired. Is unity possible, asks Saleh Al-Naami The evening gathering of Al-Hamaydeh clan in the central Gaza Strip's Deir Al-Balah City broke up late on Thursday. The clan members who meet every week had been exchanging jokes and had found commentary on the failure of the most recent dialogue talks between Fatah and Hamas to be a source of entertainment. Salim Al-Hamaydeh, who works in trade, says that Palestinians no longer trust the seriousness of the faction representatives in reaching an agreement. "The dialogue has turned into a source of popular jest, for what is taking place is beyond the bounds of sound reason," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The faction leaders are busying themselves talking about the government and elections and the electoral system at a time when tens of thousands of people in Gaza don't have shelter, at a time when Palestinians in the West Bank are caught in a wide-scale war in which Israel is taking control of their land and property," he added. This clan's joking reflects the frustration of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since the most recent Cairo dialogue round between Fatah and Hamas failed. Owner of a downtown Gaza City fuul and falafel restaurant, Saed, commented to the Weekly : "Even though they said that they had agreed to resume the dialogue in a month's time, in reality this means that the dialogue was a failure." Fatah and Hamas have exchanged accusations of responsibility for the failure of this most recent dialogue round, revealing in the process that the differences between the two sides included all points under discussion. Fatah has been unyielding on its position that the upcoming Palestinian government must declare commitment to all the agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), a position Hamas has rejected. Yet in a statement to the Weekly, Fatah spokesperson Fahmi Al-Zaarir denied Hamas's accusations that Fatah was responsible for this last dialogue round's failure because of its bowing to foreign interventions. He says that Fatah insists that any Palestinian government formed in the future must declare its commitment to the agreements signed by the PLO and must work towards having the siege lifted. Al-Zaarir recalled that the PA was formed as an outcome of the Oslo Accords, and that it has always needed European and American aid to ensure that life keeps rolling in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. As such, he argues, a government must be formed that is recognised by the rest of the world. Al-Zaarir says that Fatah wishes that Arab states would fund the activities of the PA so that there wouldn't be need for the foreign aid that obliges all Palestinian governments to take the demands of the international community into account. Al-Zaarir considers the formation of a government that enjoys international acceptance a necessity in light of the rise of the extreme right in Israel. "So as to convince the world to place pressure on the new Israeli government, the Palestinian position must be strengthened through the formation of a government the world agrees to communicate with and which adopts a different political discourse," he told the Weekly. Fatah is not demanding that Hamas declare its commitment to PA agreements, Al-Zaarir says, for Hamas can hold on to its well-known political positions without participating in the government. Any Palestinian government formed, however, must recognise the Oslo Accords, he clarified. Al-Zaarir says that Egyptian General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman has informed Fatah and Hamas representatives that the US administration and the European Union will not change their stipulations for dealing with the Palestinian government. "Suleiman made it clear that the United States and the European Union consider it necessary for any future government to commit to the conditions set by the Quartet committee and that any political programme that doesn't meet this demand will form an obstacle to the government's dealings with Washington and Europe," he said. "We would be putting ourselves into a new crisis, and rather than breaking the siege and building up Gaza, we would be adding a new siege, not only on Gaza, but on the West Bank as well," he added. Prominent Hamas leader says that Fatah's insistence on its long-held views in the most recent dialogue round is what formed an obstacle to success. Fatah has cemented its position on some of the issues of dispute, he says, and has insisted on the necessity of the new government committing to the resolutions and commitments of the PLO. It has also refused to discuss the reform of the PA's security agencies, having clarified that such reform will be limited to the Gaza Strip while West Bank security agencies remain as they are. Fatah has also clung to its position that the PLO must retain its current status as the sole representative authority. Al-Bardweil adds that Fatah has rejected the formation of a leadership framework that encompasses all of the factions and which would undertake the administration of Palestinian affairs until the PLO is reformed and elections are held. "In the beginning we thought that the positions put forth by Fatah were simply a negotiating tactic for reaching a solution, and that it would change its positions with the passage of time, but in the end we found strong insistence in Fatah dictating its views and the agreement being implemented according to its vision," he said. "As such, discussions reached an impasse without specific dates being set, and we are waiting for the situation to improve." Al-Bardweil says that Fatah's insistence on the upcoming government committing to the conditions set by the Quartet committee was the primary obstacle preventing a final reconciliation agreement. "There must be agreed-upon political approaches for dealing with the issues of the government's programme and the formation of a higher authority for the PLO and the Palestinian people. There must be an agreement on the mechanisms for rebuilding the security agencies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on professional and national bases, as well as an agreement on a law for the Palestinian legislative elections," he said. "We offered concessions on the issue of the Palestinian government, for after we had wanted a Palestinian national unity government in which all the Palestinian factions participated proportionally in the Legislative Council we accepted the formation of a Palestinian accord government that includes ministers from outside the factions." The Weekly has learned that during the recent dialogue round, Egypt proposed that the dispute over the government's political programme be overcome by forming a government led by Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, with the condition that non- factional representatives from the West Bank and Gaza Strip take part in it. This new government would work on preparing for the legislative and presidential elections that are supposed to be held next 10 January. The Weekly's sources have also indicated that Suleiman has held the Palestinian factions back until late April so that consensus could be reached on the points of dispute holding up a final agreement. The factions have not responded to Egypt's proposal, but some members of the leadership cadre in Hamas and Islamic Jihad told the Weekly that it adopts the positions that Fatah has taken in the dialogue. The Weekly has also learnt that President Abbas has devised a plan for dealing with the situation should the national dialogue fail. Informed sources have said that Abbas intends to entrust current Prime Minister Salam Fayyad with forming a new government and oversee preparations for the elections and Gaza's reconstruction. Yet the obstacles preventing the dialogue's success are not limited to differences between Fatah and Hamas or American and Israeli interference. Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives have begun to remark that Cairo's insistence on communicating with the two movements through the Egyptian general intelligence agency indicates that Cairo considers relations with them to be a security matter. In contrast, Cairo communicates with Fatah through the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. The Weekly has learnt that Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives have filed formal protests against the Egyptian general intelligence agency sponsoring the dialogue sessions. Indeed, criticism of Egypt has become common for Hamas officials. According to Hamas leader Osama Al-Mazini: "Hamas considers that for dealings with it to remain on the security level it means that relations between it and Cairo are not normal," he said, stressing that dealings must take place on a political level. "Hamas representatives are political leaders and as such it is natural, reasonable, and diplomatic to deal with them on a diplomatic level and not on a security level," he added. In the wake of the dialogue's failure, Palestinians feel a mix of anger and hopelessness towards their political leaders. If, they say, the Palestinian factions can't unite under the tragedy the Palestinian people are undergoing, when can they?
