By the Gazette Editorial Board Hamas has been tagged as a big question mark. While Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu-Mazen is struggling desperately for Palestinian unity, Hamas appears to be stubbornly determined to swim against the tide. The main Palestinian resistance movement, which is fortifying itself in Gaza, has boycotted the first Palestinian National Council (PNC) since 1996. Hamas was not alone in staying away from the PNC. Islamic Jihad movement and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine did likewise, broadening the Palestinian division. Hamas has also rejected Abu-Mazen's appeals to disarm and relinquish threats to pursue armed resistance, which the Israelis would exploit to win the sympathy of a greater number of countries. Nor did Hamas respond to Abu-Mazen's appeals to stop its border provocations to save the lives of young Palestinians. About 40 young Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more injured by Israeli soldiers when they approached the border. Addressing the PNC, Abu Mazen appealed to Hamas to stop placing children at the front of its ‘March of Return' protests. "Keep the children away from border confrontations," Abu-Mazen urged. "We don't want a handicapped generation." Nor does the Palestinian resistance movement seem to be willing to positively accelerate the Cairo-brokered conciliation move by sincerely shifting the responsibility for security and administration in Gaza to the Palestinian authority. Hamas is unwisely squandering a new chance to consolidate Palestinian unity at a critical juncture in the Palestinian Cause. The strategic importance of the PNC in Ramallah in the West Bank is based on the fact that it will elect an Executive Committee for the first time in two decades. The Palestinian congress is also taking place amid enormous, unprecedented challenges for the Palestinians, the US having decided to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state and to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on May 15. Divided, the Palestinians undoubtedly weaken the stance of Abu-Mazen in the face of his stubborn and arrogant rival, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. By refusing to serve the supreme, national interests of the Palestinians, Hamas could be driving a nail in the coffin of the Palestinian Cause.
