Doaa El-Bey reviews the reaction to the Hamas call to scrap the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinians The declaration by Damascus-based Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal of an intention to form an alternative authority to the Palestine Liberation Organisation to represent the Palestinians triggered fear of a major rift that will further consolidate the present internal divisions. Khaled Al-Haroub wrote that it was absurd to try to form an alternative representative authority to the PLO as this will buttress division and spoil the legal framework of world and regional support for the Palestinians. "It is the easier though harder route for Hamas to back the PLO and join it according to the 2005 agreements," Al-Haroub wrote in the United Arab Emirates political daily Al-Ittihad . He reviewed another article published in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam which stated that in order to end division and occupation, the Palestinians should try to boost the viewpoints which state that negotiations and resistance should go hand in hand as well as opening up all options rather than sticking to one option at the expense of all others. Given that the Oslo negotiations have failed to reap its fruits up till now, sticking to negotiations as the only option should be given up. Meanwhile, as the writer added, legal resistance should be skillfully adopted whenever and wherever needed. And ending the occupation should top the list of Palestinian priorities. Al-Haroub agreed with the writer of Al-Ayyam 's argument that any inter-Palestinian agreement should be based on one political programme which gives the two-state solution a time frame of one or two years, after which the Palestinians would have to resort to other options including resistance and dissolving the authority. In order to execute the programme, the PLO should be bolstered and be the sole party responsible for negotiations. In addition, both Fatah and Hamas need to present a new strategy and political programme based on their experience. Fatah should base its programme on the assessment of the negotiations of the last 15 years, its loss to Hamas in the elections, and the results of the recent Israeli war in Gaza. Hamas's platform should be based on an assessment of its experience during the last 20 years. The two parties should realise that ending the occupation is their common goal. Mowafaq Mattar warned against any encroachment on the PLO as having suicidal repercussions on the Palestinian issue. He wrote that the PLO was not a financial institution that could be dissolved or a political party reshaped under a new name, but is the representative of the values and objectives of the Palestinians in freedom, independence, sovereignty and a state. Thus, any talk about the deficiency of the PLO is an admission of the deficiency of the Palestinian people to achieve freedom and independence. He suggested that the Palestinian leaders should think hard before talking about a substitute to the PLO as this could be political suicide for the Palestinian issue. They should think of the objectives of those who advocate it, those who believe that the worldwide protests against the war in Gaza could allow them to declare 'political victory' and call for 'new representation'. "Meshaal's call is a political manoeuvre to guarantee as much gains as possible in inter-Palestinian reconciliation and the truce with Israel," Mattar concluded in the Palestinian political daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. Yasser Al-Zaatra thanked Meshaal for reminding us of the PLO which became an annex to the present Palestinian Authority. If Fatah had won the 2006 elections, the PLO would have fallen into complete oblivion and the Oslo authorities would have been the sole representative of the Palestinians. Al-Zaatra said it was important to discuss who represents the Palestinians now. The PA, he added, wants to win the elections in order to go to the negotiations without any obstacles. It is clear that Hamas is not after a new representation that gains international recognition, but a representation that believes in resistance. Fatah cannot be part of that new order because most of its members are now employees of the PA. Thus the present slogan should be 'no to the PA, yes to a representative to the resistance', but not as a substitute for any other organisation. "Those who want Palestinian unity should focus on reshaping the PLO according to a democratic basis so that it is the sole representative of the Palestinians inside and outside the territories," Al-Zaatra concluded in the independent Jordanian political daily Addustour. The Qatari political daily Al-Watan regarded Meshaal's suggestion as worth serious discussion by the various Palestinian factions. However, the newspaper's editorial questioned whether it was better to establish a new organisation or rebuild the present PLO. The edit said the PLO was established 45 years ago, that is, before the establishment of groups like Hamas and Jihad. During that period many changes took place, mainly the conclusion of the Oslo agreement with Israel. In addition, there was a consensus among the factions of the importance of rebuilding the PLO. Thus, the edit called on Fatah members to agree on the rebuilding process so that the PLO would be a representative of the Palestinian factions, each according to its political weight and according to Palestinian legislative elections. Mohamed Salah wrote that Hamas is trying to impose a new reality on the ground by casting doubt on the credibility of an authority recognised by the international community, the Arab League and regional organisations. He warned that this could further deepen the Palestinians as well as other Arab divisions. The Arabs who are divided between moderate and hardline states, would be further divided into those who support the old representative authority and those who back the new authority. "What's the use of inter-Palestinian dialogue when one group believes the other is dead?" Salah asked in the London-based political independent daily Al-Hayat. He did not deny that the present authority made huge mistakes and that its reaction to the Israeli war against Gaza was regarded as deficient by most Arab states. However, the Palestinians are not in need of another authority that further deepens their division. Abdel-Rahman Al-Rashed wrote that it was not enough for Hamas to separate Gaza and the West Bank and rebel against the PA, but also declared without shame that it needs to establish a substitute organisation replacing the PLO. He wondered whether Hamas had decided to avoid a confrontation with the most vicious Israeli leader Benyamin Netanyahu and focus on a conflict with PLO factions, or whether it was trying to spoil the life of the Palestinians in the West Bank after it did so in Gaza. "Any new organisation would make Hamas clearly appear as the tool trying to divide Palestinian ranks," Al-Rashed concluded in the London-based political daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
