The result of bad politics

A Good Piece

Hasan Abu Nimah, The Electronic Intifada, 23 May 2007

".......Those who have been describing the current carnage as the second Palestinian catastrophe, or Nakba as commonly known, are absolutely right in expressing their deep pain, but the real second catastrophe was the Oslo Agreement in 1993. In 1947, the tragedy that befell the Palestinians was the result of a combination of international and regional factors that neither the Arab people of Palestine nor the Arab states combined had the means to confront; it was an inevitable injustice fiercely and forcefully imposed. The Oslo agreement, on the other hand, was a self-inflicted disaster by leaders who had for long placed themselves at the top of the "Palestine Liberation Organisation", leaders who had hitherto shamed and accused of treachery anyone who ever dared contemplate any settlement with the "Zionist enemy" that did not reverse the course of history to the pre-1947 era.

Here, and according to the appalling Oslo arrangement, Israel succeeded for the first time in its history to secure the voluntary, if not enthusiastic, consent of the widely recognised "sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" to legitimise its occupation and to consolidate all its war gains, practically at no cost......

It was Oslo, in fact, which divided the Palestinians. It did indeed take time before the depth of the split assumed such a violent nature, but problems have been building up, and there is always an ignition point.

Oslo was an Israeli opportunity, if not an Israeli device altogether, to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without many -- indeed any -- changes on the ground. Rather than removing the occupation and liberating those suffering under it for decades, the acclaimed "liberators" opted to slip under it too, and to join those they loudly crowed they were determined to liberate. Under Oslo, the Palestinian Authority and its security forces were meant to act as an extension of the occupation, and to only relieve the occupiers of their burdens.....

Many Palestinians were opposed to the "Oslo sellout", but they either opted to patiently keep quiet in the hope that things may improve and that the promise of peace would one day materialise, or raised their voices in protest and were harshly dealt with by the many-faceted Palestinian security forces, for being "enemies of peace" and saboteurs.....

Instead of following up on the modest achievements of Mecca with serious efforts to build Palestinian consensus and reconcile policies, rather than allocate Cabinet seats and shares, ominous attempts to enable the PA presidency and Fateh to wipe out Hamas continued openly, with arms and money pouring in that direction......

Efforts have been exerted all along to create in Gaza conditions that turn everyone against everyone. It is not Palestinian foolishness and selfishness; it is rather mission accomplished for those who planned this state of affairs for debilitated Gaza."