Sunday, March 8, 2009

New Possibilities Regarding Palestinian National Consensus Government

A report by the Palestine Media Center states that Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad announced Saturday that he has submitted his resignation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The resignation will take effect after the formation of a Palestinian unity government, but no later than the end of March. The PLO and Hamas have demonstrated highly different policies regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, however unity between the two entities would be seen as a momentous step forward regarding the potential for peace in the region. Dialogue between the two Palestinian governments is expected to resume in Cairo on Tuesday and the article raises an interesting point with the following: "The Egyptian sponsored talks have raised high expectations that an agreement to end the inner Palestinian division and restoring the geographic and political reunification between the West Bank and Gaza Strip." According to the article, reaching an agreement between the factions will enable the start of the reconstruction efforts in Gaza and many Palestinians see unity as an essential matter following the right wing victory in the recent Israeli elections. The process of reunification would be difficult and probably bloody, and with the risk of failure and further division between Hamas and the PLO, is reunification a realistic endeavor? The resignation is seen as a step forward because it leaves room for more PLO officials with the credentials necessary for dialogue with Hamas, but should the PLO risk loosing valuable diplomats regarding Israel in order to gain diplomats to work with Hamas?
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1 comment:

  1. AlysonMarch 10, 2009 at 4:32 PM

    I think that a certain level of cooperation between the PLO and Hamas would be beneficial to Palestine in peace negotiations with Israel as well as with negotiations on an international scale. I can't say whether reunification (as in, establishing just one government between the two) would be realistic at this point because of the political and ideological differences between the two, but discussion is the first step towards achieving a unified and cooperative body.

    Here is a cartoon I found that deals with the tensions between Hamas and Fatah. Even though it was drawn a couple years ago (2007), I think it still conveys some of the present concerns about reunification that you mentioned in your post:

    http://www.mideasttruth.com/mtcartoons/coxandforkum/07.06.12.PalestUnity-X.gif

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