The Globe and Mail
Editorial - Page A16
May 30, 2006
Abbas sets the bar
It's remarkable what a little decisiveness can accomplish, even in the midst of
chaos and despair. Last Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a
bold ultimatum to Hamas, the terrorist organization that runs the government:
Either accept a peace proposal championed by respected Palestinian leaders
currently behind bars in an Israeli prison or face a national referendum on the
subject. The plan underlines previous negotiating positions calling on Israel to
withdraw from all the territory occupied since the 1967 war and for the creation
of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. Implicit
is a recognition of Israel's right to exist alongside a Palestinian state. Mr.
Abbas and other moderate Palestinians have long accepted this reality as the
basis for a negotiated settlement, but Hamas does not.
It was a brilliant political stroke by Mr. Abbas, who gave Hamas 10 days to
respond. Hamas officials predictably rejected the idea of a referendum, but know
they are in danger of rapidly losing the battle for the hearts and minds of
ordinary Palestinians if they maintain their foolish intransigence. Hamas swept
to power in the legislative elections in January in large part because of public
anger over the corruption, incompetence and factional rifts that marked the rule
of the long-governing Fatah party of Mr. Abbas and his predecessor Yasser
Arafat. Other aspects of Hamas's agenda, notably its militant version of Islam
and its implacable, violent opposition to Israel, have considerably less appeal
to a largely pragmatic people looking for signs of hope in an otherwise bleak
social and economic landscape.
Hamas has helped make life even more difficult by refusing to accept the
fundamental obligations of a civil government: to protect citizens from harm and
promote their well-being. Instead, it provoked Western governments to cut off
aid to the Palestinian Authority, removing its main source of operating funds.
It has also formed a private militia that has engaged in open hostilities with
the Fatah-controlled police and security forces.
Now Mr. Abbas, who has often appeared weak and indecisive since his landslide
victory at the polls early last year, is holding out a ray of hope at a time
when the possibility of civil war hangs in the air and when Israel is more
determined than ever to resolve its border issues. While Mr. Abbas was showing
why he has long had a reputation for finding safe passages through the most
treacherous of waters, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was promising
Washington that he would make one last serious effort to reach a negotiated deal
with Mr. Abbas before unilaterally withdrawing from most of the West Bank and
securing Israel's final borders. This is not likely a coincidence. The Bush
administration would dearly love to breathe new life into the peace process,
which has been dormant since January, 2001. It would also be in Mr. Olmert's
political interests to do so, and it would shore up Mr. Abbas's shaky position.
Mr. Olmert told U.S. lawmakers that Israel “cannot wait for the Palestinians
forever.” Now Mr. Abbas is telling Hamas the same thing. With or without Hamas,
he is eager to take up Mr. Olmert's commitment to get back to the bargaining
table. Hamas says there can be no referendum unless it holds one, and that it
has no intention of doing so. The organization won its power democratically at
the ballot box. It will be surprised at what direction democracy can take when a
government thwarts the will of its own people.
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