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MIDEAST: Hamas Gaining International Legitimacy
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM, Apr 30, 2009 (IPS) - Delegations from the rival Fatah and Hamas organisations have again failed in
Cairo to bridge their differences meant to usher in a Palestinian unity
government, but this has in no way slowed inroads which the Islamist
movement has been making to increase its international legitimacy - much to
Israel's concern.
Since the conclusion of Israel's 22-day military offensive in January which
coincided with U.S. President Barack Obama taking power in Washington,
Gaza-controlled Hamas has had many more international visitors. Sources
close to the Hamas leadership in once diplomatically isolated Gaza confirm
that official representatives of several European governments have come
calling, over and above Norway, which has long sought to breach the Israel-
U.S.-European boycott.
Until recently, most of the international community backed Israel's view that
Hamas is a terrorist group, and refused to deal directly with it. That meant
largely a siege of Hamas since the movement won an election back in
January 2006 and then ousted Fatah in a fierce power struggle in the
summer of the following year. The hope was to marginalise Hamas while
strengthening the moderation of the Palestinian Authority under Fatah
leader, President Mahmoud Abbas.
The new Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu had hoped the
international community would continue steadfastly not to deal officially with
Hamas unless it committed to non-violence, recognised Israel, and accepted
previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements. The new direction leaves Israel
facing an increasingly complex diplomatic conundrum.
There is simply a growing international perception, especially since the war,
that the old 'isolate Hamas' approach is not working. This has raised Israel's
anxiety that an end to the sanctions on Hamas could be nigh.
The signs are unmistakable. Lawmakers from the UK and EU, travelling
independently, have made widely publicised visits to the recently re-elected
Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshal in Damascus. And, last week, Meshal
delivered a speech via a teleconference uplink to a closed parliamentary
session at Westminster, further undermining the boycott.
Expressing "extreme disappointment", the speaker of the Israeli Knesset,
Reuven Rivlin, sent a protest to the Speaker of the British House of
Commons, Michael Martin. "Democracy and terrorism cannot live side by
side. A democracy that allows itself to be taken advantage of by terrorism
risks dire consequences. I ask that you not provide a platform that could
further advance their cause," Rivlin wrote.
Hamas sources in Gaza believe the flurry of contacts is only taking place
because of a tacit go-ahead from the U.S - "they are showing much more
courage than during the Bush administration," the sources say.
In parallel, the international community's Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, has
repeatedly cautioned about "pushing Gaza aside" from any putative peace
moves. He recently told the London Times, "I do think it is important we find
a way of bringing Hamas into this process." And, Martin Indyk, a former U.S.
ambassador to Israel close to the Obama administration, said bluntly in his
recently published book, 'Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American
Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East', that "a peace process that excludes
Hamas is bound to fail."
More recently, as part of its 83.4 billion dollar emergency spending bill to
fund the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the Obama Administration began
exploring ways to change U.S. law to allow aid to any future Palestinian unity
government that might include Hamas. The emergency aid bill provides 840
million dollars for the Palestinian Authority and for rebuilding Gaza after the
war.
The Hamas refusal to make any commitment about recognising Israel or
accepting past Palestinian-Israeli agreements is still considered the main
stumbling block in forging a Palestinian national government. Israeli Middle
East experts argue, however, that Hamas is actually being encouraged not to
budge from its resolute positions because of the erosion of the diplomatic
boycott.
Alongside fiery Hamas declarations, such as that delivered last Friday in a
Gaza mosque by a top Hamas man, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, in which he vowed
the organisation would "never ever" recognise Israel, there are distinct signs
of Hamas pragmatism. There has been an almost total lull in rocket fire from
Gaza at Israeli villages in recent weeks. Hamas, which has never taken
responsibility for any of the previous attacks in the wake of the war, is now
apparently exerting pressure on more militant fringe groups to halt the firing
completely. Ismail Al-Ashkar, a senior Hamas official, told reporters "the
firing of rockets is against Palestinian interests."
This pragmatism is meant to stem less from fear of Israeli retaliation and is
geared more to bolstering the tentative gains in international credibility.
Coupled with the uncompromising ideological stance against Israel, it seems
also to serve in strengthening Hamas vis-à-vis a flagging Palestinian
Authority.
Interestingly, although Israel seems less than the PA the immediate target of
this post-war Hamas strategy, the surge towards ending the Islamist
movement's isolation comes just as Israel begins to feel increasingly a
diplomatic freeze of its own.
More and more European officials have been calling for a freeze in upgrading
ties with the Netanyahu government over his reluctance to commit to a two-
state solution. The most outspoken critic is the EU external affairs
commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. She is the butt of a counter-Israeli
diplomatic offensive. The Foreign Ministry is even threatening Israel will
block the EU from participating in any diplomatic process with the
Palestinians. Rafi Barak, deputy director of the European Desk, told several
European ambassadors that unless the EU stopped such declarations,
"Europe will not be able to be part of the diplomatic process and both sides
will lose."
Israel, however, may well find that a strident approach will bear little fruit
when Netanyahu meets President Obama at the White House in three weeks
time, and discovers just how far the U.S. Administration has departed from
the absolutist anti-Hamas approach of the previous Administration, and
steps up its insistence that Israel lines up with the two-state solution.
(END)
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