The faces of over-bearing Arrogance
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2010
by Khaled Abu Toameh
The US Administration, which just forced Israel and the Palestinian Authority to enter direct peace negotiations, seems to have completely forgotten about the Gaza Strip. Perhaps Washington is deliberately sticking its head in the sand; and perhaps we should all stop dreaming?
The peace process is going nowhere and everyone is just pretending: it is important to remind everyone of what they want to conceal or forget.
The Americans seem to be ignoring Gaza: Possibly -- even though the Gaza Strip is back in the news as rockets and mortars are again being fired into Israel -- they do not want the grim reality to spoil the Peace Process Party.They know that for now the Gaza Strip is a lost cause, so they pretend the problem does not exist.
If the Obama administration is hoping that a peace deal might prompt the Hamas and the residents of the Gaza Strip to seek a similar deal, they are they are being naïve; on the contrary, such a deal would only increase Hamas's determination to step up its efforts -- with the help of Syria and iran -- to scuttle the peace process.
The first and most important question that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton need to ask themselves is whether the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, would ever even be able to implement a peace agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas and his Fatah faction fled the Gaza Strip just over three years ago, handing it over to Hamas. As soon as Hamas started shooting in the summer of 2007, Abbas's forces and loyalists either surrendered or ran away.
They gave Hamas everything, including security headquarters, weapons, and government offices.
The handful of Fatah policemen and militiamen who chose to put up a fight were swiftly crushed by Hamas.
Since then, Abbas has not been able to set foot in the Gaza Strip. He is not even able to visit his private residence, which was seized by Hamas.
The Palestinian president is not a fool and he is acting properly by following the advice of his security advisors not to even consider the idea of visiting the Gaza Strip.
Abbas's seaside headquarters, once an important symbol of the Palestinian Authority's control over the Gaza Strip, has been turned into a Hamas detention center, where many of the president's loyalists are being held and tortured at the hands of the Islamist movement.
Have Obama and Clinton ever given a thought as to whether the Palestinian president has the power to enforce a peace agreement in the "southern part of Palestine" - the Gaza Strip?
Any peace agreement Abbas reaches with Israel will apply only to those areas in the West Bank that are under the jurisdiction or control of the Palestinian Authority.
By being forced out of the Gaza Strip, Abbas lost direct control over some 1.5 million Palestinians, roughly half the Palestinians living in the Palestinian territories.
There are also doubts as to whether Abbas would even be able to impose, or sell, a peace agreement to many of his constituents in the West Bank, particularly those living in refugee camps.
So if Abbas cannot go to the Gaza Strip and has limited control over the West Bank, where is he supposed to implement a peace agreement? In downtown Ramallah? In Tel Aviv?
The way matters seem to be these days, it is highly unlikely that Abbas and Fatah would be returning to the Gaza Strip, at least not in the foreseeable future.
The Palestinian and Israeli negotiators and their US sponsors are continuing to ignore the facts on the ground -- namely that a radical, Iranian-funded Islamist state already exists, and it is in the Gaza Strip.
It would have been more useful for the peace process had Washington demanded that Abbas find a solution to the split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip before dragging him to the negotiating table.
Khaled Abu Toameh
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
I have recently read articles and suggestions by Democrats, stating that come 2012 they would like to see Ms. Clinton run for the Office of President. The commentators are comparing the two ostrich-like leaders and believe they can choose the lesser of two evils, by picking Clinton as the Democratic Party's choice, if Obama decides to bow out of running for a second term.
That is a huge "IF", since the ego of the President goes beyond reality and he does not appear to mind the fact that all polls show he is slipping fast from being the "One". Also, the fact that there are discussions beginning to surface that show both sides displeasure of Obama's track record, it appears the Democrats are waking up to the damage the Obama administration is causing America. The "Damage Control" crowd are already circling the corral (Washington, DC) to mend fences among their failed party.
Whether Obama runs for second term or decides to gracefully slip away to some forsaken island is not the issue; the issue is, does Clinton actually understand that she is no better than her master, Obama? Her actions, reactions and contempt have shown not only on her face, but also to the world. Please, dear people, remember her words, her phone calls of condemnation to Israel and when going to the voting booths in 2012, REMEMBER that anyone who does not have the morals to stand up for what is right in this world and for America should NOT be given a second chance to continue harming America.
NO OBAMA - NO CLINTON in 2012.
Bee Sting
