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Hamas and the New Government of Unity

Hollman Lozano | 14.11.2006 00:06 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | World

The Hamas Governemt of unity, what it means, woaht might be happening.

In a desperate move trying to reach the foreign aid that had helped the Palestinian Authority to exist, the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyah has accepted to voluntarily put an end at its government, if it will return the foreign aid that was suspended almost eight months ago, when the rebel movement got to the power.
On one side, it basically means that the international community and Israel have won the battle over Hamas, because it has to surrender the power in order to access the foreign aid that was suspended. On the other side, it may indicate that Hamas believes so strongly on its tenets that is even able to give up itself before accepting the conditions imposed by the international community and Israel, in order to resume the economical aid. Those conditions were:
1-. Recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist
2-. Forswear violence
3-. Accept previous Palestinian–Israeli agreements that imply a tow state solution.
The alternative that Hamas has found is to create a government of unity with the Fatah movement in order to access those funds that had been kept from the Palestinian Government. To this the U.S. government has said that it will resume the aid as soon as the government of unity comes to power, whereas Israeli officials have said that “any Palestinian government has to meet the three conditions, it does not matter who is in it, what their names are”
On the short term, it is possible that the government of unity between Hamas and Fatah will help to release the funds, but if they don’t accept the three conditions, the same situation is going to be repeated over and over again. Because for what can be infer from the Hamas leaders’ words, they have not yet understood the aims of Israel and the international community, or are just trying to fool them.
It becomes evident if one reads carefully the words of Mr Haniyah’s past Friday statement, when he said that “whoever gets to the Prime Minister office will be from Hamas line” “…We will not compromise…” “…We are going ahead with a government that will not give political compromises”
The alternatives that appear after following carefully what have been mentioned are that Hamas may be playing to get somebody who accepts the three conditions without compromising itself as a movement. A sort of third party that informally accepts the conditions of the international community, but that at the same time may be subject to Hamas pressure.
That because the government of union is the only possible alternative that Hamas has, especially if one considers that the other possible outcomes, stay in power although the economical difficulties will be to commit a political suicide. Whereas not taking part on the government of unity will be to renounce the power that democratically they had won.
The other not less important fact with the Hamas issue is that the too defended idea of democracy has received one of its more terrible stabs from who were supposed to be its more adamantly defendants. It is evident that the way occident understands democracy is not the way of what people want, but what the owners of the world want, that is to say those who have the money. Everything else does not seem to matter.
Neither the effort, nor the intention of the Palestinian to choose Hamas as their government, seems to be considered at the time of placing the conditions of the economical aid. Therefore, we are gong back to the movie of Danto, to the doubts of democracy. Giving reason once again to the words of Saramago when he said that he did not believe in democracy, because those who give the money for the political campaigns in every country, so those who elect who elect before the elections, the Head of Coca Cola, McDonalds and Ford do not go to elections.
At the end, this seems to be only an additional chapter in the already long story of the iraeli-palestinian conflict. Because to take Hamas out of power by convenient reasons, without giving them the opportunity to advance on their praxis as a political movement, only increases the confusion on the region, the furor and the hate with which some of the people sees their opponents.



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 hollman.lozano@yahoo.ca

Hollman Lozano
- e-mail: hollman.lozano@yahoo.ca
- Homepage: http://hollmanlozano.blogspot.com