The ceasefire may -- out of dire necessity -- push forward national reconciliation talks, according to Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank With a vitriolic war of words still raging between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) over the status of the PLO, both camps are bracing themselves for what many observers describe as a decisive round of national reconciliation talks sponsored and mediated by Egypt. The intensive talks, slated to start on 22 February, will centre on the formation of a "national reconciliation government" that would enjoy the backing of all or most Palestinian political and resistance factions, especially Fatah and Hamas. The government would have to be accepted as well by the international community, especially the donor countries. The enduring crisis between Fatah and Hamas took a turn for the worst last week when Khaled Meshaal, the Damascus-based head of the Hamas politburo, said during a press conference in Doha that he and the leaders of exiled Palestinian factions would see to it that a new umbrella leadership was formed for the purpose of overseeing the resistance against Israel. Meshaal said the formation of such a body was becoming necessary in the aftermath of the Israeli blitzkrieg and the "heroic steadfastness" of the resistance in Gaza. Predictably, the announcement hit a sensitive nerve in Ramallah which interpreted the announcement as a call for the creation of an alternative Palestinian leadership that would replace the PLO, "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people". PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who Hamas is now referring to as "ex- president", strongly condemned Meshaal's "divisive and corrosive efforts", saying "these absurd and irresponsible acts will be rejected by the Palestinian people." "We will not enter into dialogue with whoever rejects the PLO; they [Hamas] will have to unequivocally recognise the PLO as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people," said a sombre-looking Abbas during a press conference in Cairo on 2 February. Abbas praised the Egyptian efforts to restore Palestinian national unity, saying that the Palestinians had no refuge save Egypt. "Whoever seeks alternatives to Egypt is living on borrowed time and seeking to undermine national interests." Other PA leaders strongly denounced the perceived attempts by Hamas to create an alternative PLO, arguing that the internationally-recognised organisation was the cumulative outcome of decades of Palestinian national struggle, and that weakening it, let alone destroying it, would inflict irreparable damage to the Palestinian people and its national cause. Retorting to the PA, Hamas leaders denied that Meshaal's call for an umbrella political leadership that would supervise and oversee the resistance against Israel constituted a call for an alternative PLO. "We are not against the PLO in principle. However, the current PLO is like an ill man, it is corrupt, sick, and nearly crippled," said Hamas leader Mohamed Nazzal. He added that the PLO was tightly controlled by the Palestinian Authority which, he said, was nearly totally subservient to Israel. Osama Hamdan, the outspoken Hamas spokesman in Beirut, accused the PA leadership in Ramallah of "effectively killing the PLO by transforming it into a propaganda tool against Hamas." "Since March 2005, the Fatah leadership has confiscated the PLO and all its institutions, and used the organisation as a rubber stamp to compromise Palestinian rights." Hamdan argued that "the PA- controlled PLO" was being used as a tool of repression against the Palestinian people, while its doors were being closed in the face of Palestinian resistance organisations. While insisting that it acknowledges the representative nature of the PLO, Hamas, unlike the PLO, refuses to recognise Israel. In 1993, the PLO recognised Israel as well as UN resolutions 242 and 338 as part of the Declaration of Principles, otherwise known as the Oslo Accords. This recognition was not reciprocated by Israel with recognition of a Palestinian state, which Hamas views as a strategic blunder on the part of the PLO. Hamas eventually broke away from the PLO as a result and refuses to grant unconditional legitimacy to the current PLO, as that would amount to giving a free recognition of Israel which to this date refuses to recognise a Palestinian state. In addition to its fundamental disagreement with the PLO on the issue of recognition of Israel, Hamas objects to the "overwhelming corruption" and "rampant absence of democracy" within the PLO. In Paris, Abbas mitigated his harsh language vis-à-vis Hamas, saying that he still wanted to talk with the Islamist group which he said was "part of our people", in order to end the national rift. However, he stressed that any future Palestinian government would have to accept "international legitimacy", an allusion to UN resolutions and agreements between Israel and the PLO. However, some of these resolutions are likely to be unacceptable for Hamas which refuses to recognise Israel. "We will never ever recognise Israel under any circumstances," said Mushir Al-Masri, a Hamas spokesman. "Recognising Israel represents the antithesis of everything Hamas stands for," he added. Hamas leaders have insisted that national reconciliation ought to be based on the National Reconciliation Accord which itself is based on the so-called "prisoners' document" prepared by the leaders of the estimated 11,000 Palestinian political and resistance prisoners in Israel who represent all Palestinian political factions. The document doesn't explicitly stipulate recognition of Israel by Hamas. However, it does stipulate that all signatories accept a Palestinian state on 100 per cent of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in addition to a just solution of the refugee plight pursuant to UN Resolution 194 which called for repatriation and compensation to refugees. Palestinian leaders are hoping that the success of Egyptian-mediated efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel would facilitate and help expedite national reconciliation talks, though the hurdle of recognition of Israel without reciprocity will not be an easy one to overcome. Hamas officials have spoken optimistically of the ceasefire talks in Cairo, saying that the group has given "positive answers" to all Egyptian enquiries pertaining to the proposed calm. Hamas has been saying all along that all border crossings would have to be reopened and the harsh blockade of Gaza will have to be lifted as part of any probable ceasefire agreement.
