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April 24,
2003
Arafat,
Mazen and the Palestinian Situation
Abu Against
Abu
by URI AVNERY
The clash between Abu-1 and Abu-2--Abu-Amar v.
Abu-Mazen--is not a personal matter, as it is presented by journalists
in Israel and all over the world. Of course, the egos of the
two personalities do play a role, as in all political fights.
But the controversy itself goes much deeper. It reflects the
unique situation of the Palestinian people.
An upper-class Palestinian defined it
this week on Israeli television as "the move from the culture
of revolution to the culture of a state." Meaning: the Palestinian
war of liberation has come to an end, and now the time has come
to put the affairs of state in order. Therefore, Yasser Arafat
(Abu-Amar), who represents the first, must go and Mahmud Abbas
(Abu-Mazen), who represents the second, must take over.
No description could be further from
reality. The Palestinian war of liberation is now at its height.
Perhaps it has never been at a more critical stage. The Palestinians
are faced with existential threats: ethnic cleansing (called
in Israel "transfer") or imprisonment in powerless,
Bantustan-style enclaves.
How has this illusion - that the national
struggle is over and that the time has come to turn to administrative
matters - arisen?
The situation of the Palestinian people
is indeed unique. As far as I am aware, it has no parallel in
history. Following the Oslo agreements, a kind of Palestinian
mini-state came into being, consisting of several small enclaves
on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These enclaves have to be
administered. But the national Palestinian aim--a viable, independent
state in all the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including East Jerusalem--is
far from being attained. In order to achieve it, an arduous national
struggle lies ahead.
Thus, two different--and contradictory--structures
exist side by side: a national liberation movement requiring
strong and authoritative leadership, and a mini-state that needs
a regular, democratic and transparent administration.
Arafat represents the first. He is much
more than a "symbol", as he is often described. He
is a leader possessing an unequalled moral authority among his
own people and vast experience in international affairs. He has
steered the Palestinian national movement away from subjugation
to Arab and international interests and led it from near oblivion
to the threshold of independence.
Abu-Mazen and his colleagues represent
the second reality. They have no solid base among their own people,
but do have connections with powerful players, most importantly
the United States and Israel, with all that entails.
The debate between the two hinges on
an assessment of the intifada. For two and a half years, the
Palestinian people have been suffering immense losses: about
2500 people killed, ten thousand disabled and injured, a whole
stratum of young leaders wiped out, the economy destroyed, immense
damage to property. Was this worthwhile? Can it continue?
Abu-Mazen and his supporters say No.
They believe that the whole fight was a mistake. Even before
the present debate, Abu-Mazen called for the cessation of the
"armed intifada". He believes that the Palestinians
can achieve more in negotiations with the US and in a political
process with Israel. He relies on the mainstream Israeli peace
movement and personalities like ex-Labor minister Yossi Beilin.
In his opinion, the violence undermines the political process
and harms the Palestinian people.
Abu-Mazen's opponents deny all this.
In their opinion, not only has the intifada not failed, but,
quite the contrary, has had important results: the Israeli economy
is in deep crisis, the tensions in Israeli society have reached
a peak, Israel's image in the world has sunk from a democracy
defending itself to a ruthless occupier. Security has worsened
to the point that there are armed security guards everywhere.
The casualties seem to them a price worth paying. If the war
of attrition continues, they believe, Israeli will in the end
be compelled to accede to the minimum demands of the Palestinians
(a state, the Green Line border, Jerusalem as a shared capital,
dismantling the settlements and a negotiated solution of the
refugee question.)
Moreover, Abu-Mazen's opponents believe
that his basic assumptions are wrong. The US will never pressure
Israel, whose agents control Washington. Israel will never concede
anything without being forced to do so. Sharon will continue
building settlements, creating facts on the ground and pulling
the land out from under the feet of the Palestinian people even
while pretending to conduct negotiations.
Abu-Mazens position may, perhaps, have
been stronger if the US and Israel had not been so obviously
trying to impose him on the Palestinian people. The examples
of poor Karzai in Afghanistan and the miserable gang of emigres
whom the Americans brought to Iraq are certainly not helping
Abu-Mazen, despite his being one of the founders of the Fatah
movement.
A large group of mediators have tried
to achieve a compromise. They say, in effect, that there is an
ideal division of labor: Arafat will continue to lead the struggle
for liberation, Abu-Mazen will administer the Palestinian enclaves.
However, this raises many practical problems.
For example: where will the money for the liberation struggle
come from? What will happen to the armed organizations, and who
will control the security forces? Who will possess the supreme
authority--the Palestinian people as a whole, including the Diaspora
(Arafat as Chairman of the PLO) or the administration of the
enclaves (Abu-Mazen)?
And, most important of all: would Abu-Mazen
be prepared to risk a fratricidal war? The US and Israel demand
that he liquidate the armed organizations and confiscate their
weapons, even before the Palestinians move one step towards a
state of their own. This will, of course, involve a bloody internecine
struggle that will fill Sharon's government with joy and consolidate
its position still further. Or should national unity be maintained,
at least until Israel stops all settlement activity and agrees
to a Palestinian state in all the occupied territories?
This debate is much wider than the personal
struggle between Abu and Abu, ego against ego. For the Palestinian
people, this is a debate about existential questions--just like
similar debates in the Jewish community in Palestine, that ended
only with the founding of the State of Israel.
Uri Avnery
is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He
is one of the writers featured in The
Other Israel: Voices of Dissent and Refusal. He can be
reached at: avnery@counterpunch.org.
Today's
Features
Anthony
Gancarski
When Young Mothers Die in Combat
Chris
Floyd
Desolation Row: Bush's Barbarians Teach
by Example
Marjorie
Cohn
Tax the War Profiteers
William
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Dave Marsh
Nina Simone: Freedom Singer
Binoy
Kampmark
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David Vest
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Standard
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Andrew
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Steve
Perry
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of the Day
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