Great... A "Unity" Government... Or Just Another Attempt @ Coup D'etat?

Palestinian politics is messy. Really messy. Not just because of how the Palestinians deal with the death, destruction and devastation that Israel deals them almost daily, but also because of internal affairs that go awry in favor of one faction over another, and therefore undermines the Palestinian Cause and any sense of unity amongst the Palestinian people and the leadership that supposedly represents them. While Fatah may have slimy hands, Hamas is undoubtedly not left with a clean slate, with all the terrorist attacks it carries out against innocent Israelis. However, regarding internal affairs, it's always the goons and snakes of Fatah that undermine any sort of unity or progress; Hamas doesn't do as much, though, as it has only recently ventured into the political sphere, but its politicians are as incompetent.

Recently, we've heard news of Mahmoud Abbas, probably the slimiest, sleaziest Fatah politician second to Mahmoud Dahlan, asking and appealing for a unity government, and "brokering" some sort of unity plan with Hamas. Yeah, and I can pop the tires of a 4X4 with a toothpick. Well, this thing really didn't last long. I know that another blog, Palestinian Pundit, covered this story better than I did, but what happened was that Abbas sought to dissolve the parliament in favor of creating a "unity" government.

However, the latest news seem to suggest the opposite: he completely broke off all talks with Hamas... that is, unless Hamas recognizes Israel. It just comes to show how much of a puppet and a crook this Abbas is: he's obviously vying for power. But why, exactly, did he suspend those talks?

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has frozen talks on forming a unity government after Hamas said it would not accept existing peace deals with Israel, two of his aides said.

I feel like making the word "existing" bigger, bolder, and probably with a red highlight right now, because I can't stress enough. Hamas won't accept the existing "peace deals" with Israel because Israel's peace deals, that of Oslo and Camp David, were a load of bull and nothing but subversion and acceptance to prolonged occupation, as well as denial of autonomy.

But there's more to this story than meets the eye. According to USAToday (thanks, Tony), Abbas is demanding more concessions from Hamas. Yasser Abd Rabbo (more like Yasser Abd Yasser because of his self-serving interests) claimed that Abbas was trying to convince Hamas to moderate and "modernize" their views. Even worse, officials in Fatah said that

Abbas will try to convince Bush that the alternative to a Fatah-Hamas government is civil war and ask him to soften the demands to allow Hamas to sign on to a coalition...

Great. I can almost smell the unity here, especially after Abbas planned to meet Bush next week, as well as Olmert, Israeli P.M. and Abbas's twin counterpart. Like most issues I come across, this is nothing new: America and Israel always deal with puppets within Arab and Palestinian governments so they may achieve their goals of seeking unity and discord. I believe Tony said it well in his post: this seeking for discord and disunity is always what the Zionist-American alliance sought from the very beginning. Look at what they did to Iraq, and what Israel did to Lebanon regarding Hizbullah (and the leaflets Israel dropped to turn the Lebanese against Hizbullah). Certainly, I wouldn't be surprised as well if Israel successfully incites a civil war, for Palestinian factions have indeed done so during the Lebanese Civil War. But what can you expect? Abbas is just another "favorite Palestinian" of Bush and Kundaraleeza Rice, eh? Considering that there is no Palestinian cabinet at the moment (the Hamas cabinet members resigned from their positions last week), Palestine's government is vulnerable to an Israeli takeover or a Fatah takeover on part of Abbas, for "security reasons". Oh, well, we'll see how this plays out, but these times are getting very edgy. And then again, Olmert might just be up to his old tricks, just like all Israel's prime ministers, from Menachem Begin to Ehud Barak.

Hamas has to come to its senses. I believe that it should renounce violence, as should Israel, for Israel is not above moral criticism. The question of recognition should only come when Palestinians in the pre-1967 areas are given a right to return to these areas, and all settlements are either removed or placed under Palestinian sovereignity. Furthermore, I also believe that Israel should stop all roadblocks and halt the projects that are dividing not only the Palestinian lands, but the Palestinian people. If it wants peace, it shouldn't at the same time hit the Palestinians below the belt. As for Abbas, that guy should be thrown into the slammer, along with all traitors in the Fatah and Hamas (yes, I said HAMAS) parties. If there should be unity, all traitors to the Palestinian cause should be told to change their ways. Yes, they should represent the Palestinian people in as patriotic a way as possible, as I am anti-Nationalist. An independent Palestine will only come out when there are no Palestinians in the government who would want to subvert any of Palestinian autonomy over Palestinian lands and give them up to the Zionist state. But then again, even as I muse and vie for such unity, I remain, sadly, pessimistic about the outcome.

Salaam, from Saracen