Too many stumbling blocks are hindering progress in the Cairo-hosted inter-Palestinian reconciliation talks, writes Amira Howeidy Cairo had precious images to promote to the world's media last week. In one, dating from 26 February, Egypt's chief intelligence officer Omar Suleiman is surrounded by representatives of five Palestinian factions. It was taken ahead of the reconciliation talks Cairo has been assiduously mediating following 18 months of bitter confrontation between the factions. A day later, on 27 February, there were even more representatives, from 13 factions, assembled for the press conference which finally announced the reconciliation plan under which, by 10 March, five committees will be formed to address the compelling issues of a unity government, the restructuring of the security apparatuses, the restructuring the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), reconciliation and elections. These committees will conduct their talks in Cairo over a period of 10 days during which they are expected to delineate a formula that will lead to the formation of the much vaunted national unity government. Fatah and Hamas have agreed, meanwhile, to halt their media war and refrain from arresting each others members in Gaza and the West Bank. All this was announced before the press in a seemingly positive climate that delivered two messages: first it is Cairo, not any other capital, which holds the keys to the Palestinian question. The second message was encapsulated by Lebanese expert on Palestinian affairs Helmi Moussa. "The mere fact that they assembled seems to be an achievement in and of itself." The Palestinian public needed to see, and possibly believe, this. After all, there is nothing else that can be delivered at the moment. The complex reality on the ground does not bode well for reconciliation. The Fatah controlled Palestinian Authority, which has detained more than 700 Hamas members in the West Bank, vowed to release them in stages as a sign of goodwill. While a handful were set free prior to and during the Cairo talks, Hamas now says the PA has arrested 29 of its members during the past week. Mohamed Nasr, a member of Hamas's politburo in Damascus, told Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview that "what is worse than the arrests is the summoning of wanted Hamas members". Anyone "summoned" by the preventive police is held between the early hours and nightfall, subject to torture, released and then summoned again at daybreak. Since Hamas seized Gaza in June 2007 the strip has been under its administrative and security control. The PA, based in Ramallah, is solely in control of the Palestinian areas of the West Bank that do not fall under Israel. Hamas has arrested Fatah members it accuses of conspiring against it or collaborating with Israel in Gaza while the PA's preventive police continue to detain Hamas members, including elected MPs. Part of the PA's mandate under the Roadmap is to disarm the resistance in areas under its control. The Hamas-Fatah division and the varying mandates of the security apparatuses affiliated to each faction has resulted in a complex security setup. There are ten security apparatuses operating in Gaza and the West Bank. Their mandates are factional, often in violation of the constitution. The preventive police force, for example, constitutionally falls under the prime minister, who until June 2007 was Hamas's Ismail Haniyah. In reality it is controlled by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Moreover, the numerous intelligence and security agencies in both Gaza and the West Bank often have overlapping mandates Palestinian academic and historian Bashir Nafi describes the security map as a "reflection of the political map itself and the designated roles of each party". The security committee, charged with restructuring the security sector on non-factional grounds, faces one of the toughest issues on the table. Then there is the challenge of reforming the PLO. The Organisation, generally accepted as the "sole legal representative" of the Palestinian people, has been controlled by Fatah since the movement's rise under Yasser Arafat's leadership in 1968. It has remained a frozen structure since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. Palestinian factions that enjoy considerable popularity, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are not included in the PLO. The Palestinian National Council, the PLO's legislative body, has not convened since 1998 when it annulled those parts of the PLO's charter that denied Israel's right to exist. The Palestinian Authority itself was born out of the PLO's talks with Israel. As such, the PA is negotiating with Israel on behalf of the PLO. Reforming the PLO to represent the Palestinian people and popular factions such as Hamas is therefore no small matter. Says Nafi: "If Hamas and Islamic Jihad are included in the PLO and elected [in the PNC] it is very likely that they will constitute a majority which will enable them to change everything, including the PLO's charter." Reform of the PLO has been recognised as an urgent issue at least since the Cairo-hosted faction talks of 2003. Those talks resulted in the Cairo Declaration of March 2005 which announced an atmosphere of calm (tahde'a) between resistance factions and Israel. The declaration, approved by 13 factions, Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad among them, endorsed by Abbas and sponsored by Egypt, restated Palestinian "constants", including the right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation and the right of approximately five million refugees to return to their homes and property. It also agreed to radical reform of the PLO to allow for a more accurate representation of the Palestinian political spectrum. Beyond the year long tahde'a nothing of the Cairo declaration was implemented. Many accusing fingers point at Abbas for obstructing reform within the PLO. Can a committee, convened four years later and given a ten-day deadline, change this? Says Hamas's Nasr: "Regardless of what others want, it is unacceptable that the PLO remains inoperative and non-representative of a huge chunk of the Palestinian people. There is consensus amongt all the factions that the PLO needs reform." Hamas will not accept anything less than a timetable for the PLO's reform and PNC elections, he added. But that, too, is a logistical nightmare. The Palestinians, whose land is occupied by Israel, are scattered across the world. There are five million refugees outside the occupied territories, an estimated 3.8 million inside. Those in Gaza are under siege, those in the West Bank suffer movement restrictions. The Palestinian Diaspora is generally prevented from entering the occupied territories, with a few exceptions. "It's terribly complicating," says Bashir, "and requires lengthy talks and a time frame." "All the issues designated to the committees are by default complicated. This is why we agreed to talk," says Nasr. If the "intentions of the talking parties are good there should be a solution eventually". But are the intentions good? Hamas is already furious at Abbas for stating on Monday that any future national unity government - that will include Hamas - must recognise Israel and adhere to all agreements signed by Israel and the PA. His words were interpreted by Hamas as preconditions, all of which have theoretically been dropped in favour of dialogue. On the same day Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said that his movement will proceed with reconciliation efforts that "will protect the resistance" and that "governments are mechanisms to serve the people and not an alternative to resistance". Hamas has already "informed" Cairo of Abass's statements, says Nasr, "and they promised to address this". But few Palestinians see progress ahead. Despite calls by European officials to include Hamas in the political process neither the US, Israel nor Abbas are allowing this. How reconciliation can be achieved without Hamas on board is a question few are willing to address. The images Cairo was happy to promote last week are one thing. But in the words of Palestinian commentator Abdel-Qader Yassin, it will take "a miracle" before a breakthrough is achieved.
