Mahmoud Abbas predicament

Mahmoud Abbas

By Mohyeddin Sajedi

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas travelled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly session and, once again, proposed Palestine’s membership at the international organization while he faced myriad problems both domestically and in the Arab world. 

Twenty years have elapsed since Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed the Oslo Accords. The agreements brought about a momentous change in the Middle East and paved the way for autonomy of the Palestinians. 

However, after two decades, many of those agreements have failed and many observers believe that Israel has merely transferred a portion of its responsibilities in the West Bank city of Ramallah to the Palestinian Authority (PA) without opening any channel for the establishemnt of a Palestinian state.

Yossi Bellin, a key architect of the Oslo Accords, has called on Mahmoud Abbas in a writing to repeal the agreements and dissolve the PA, as Israel does not fulfill its commitments and it has practically blocked the full implementation of the Oslo Accords. 

Thanks to the existence of a Palestinian authority which runs the civil affairs in some parts of the West Bank, Israel has got rid of the “burden” of occupation. The major role of the PA is to pay the salaries of the employees and conduct security coordination with Israel to prevent the people’s intifada. 

The West Bank recently witnessed a protest against the high costs of basic goods and fuel. Since the PA is saddled with USD 2 billion in foreign debts, it is incapable of paying the salaries of its employees and it is in need of direct financial aid from the foreign governments which are no longer willing to provide their supports. 

Israel solved the problem to some extent and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed USD 60 million from the assets blocked as customs duties to be paid to the PA. He linked the decision to Israel’s security and argued that Hamas should not be allowed to take control of the West Bank and Iran’s influence must not expand to the occupied territories.

In other words, form Israel’s point of view, the main responsibility of the PA is to counteract the imapct of rival Palestinian movements and prevent Iran’s influence from growing, not to improve the people’s life or help them achieve a sovereign country.

The US, under President Barack Obama administration, embarked on some efforts by sending George Mitchell, but it was clear from the outset that the bid was doomed to failure. Following the failure, Washington practically abandoned every initiative to help resume the talks and provided ideal conditions for Israel which enabled Tel Aviv to expand settlement construction across the West Bank, particularly in al-Quds (Jerusalem) while merely facing verbal criticism from the US and other Western capitals.

Obama’s policies added insult to Abbas’ injuries. Washington initially called for cessation of settlement construction as a condition for resumption of talks. The stance was very promising for the PA chief. However, the Israeli leaders managed to persuade or coerce the White House into abandoning the demand. As a result, Mahmoud Abbas has been left alone in his campaign to put an end to the settlement construction, while the other scenario, a two-state solution, slipping into oblivion.

The so-called Arab Spring was also to no avail for Abbas. From the political and pragmatic point of view, he is close to [former Egyptian dictator] Hosni Mubarak and [former Tunisian dictator] Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and lives in a world similar to theirs. 

The revolutionary transformation in the Arab countries gave priority to reforming the domestic situation and improving the social and economic conditions. The new leaders in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya do not have high opinions of Abbas. While, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh visits Cairo several times and addresses the Friday prayers in the city, Abbas totally comprehends that he can no longer see the Egyptian leaders standing by him and against Hamas.

Therefore, a Palestinian reconciliation, dissolution of the Gazan government, and establishment of a unified government have been totally forgotten and the Egyptian government has also forgotten them in what is another blow to Mahmoud Abbas government. The failure to achieve a national consensus is result of the uncertainty which not only governs Egypt but the entire Middle East. Egypt’s foreign policy is not been molded yet and Iran’s nuclear issue combined with Israel’s effort to get US involved in war against Iran and the crisis in Syria have further exacerbated that situation of uncertainty.

A short while ago, Abbas invited PLO and Fatah leaders to a meeting in the West Bank and asked them to deliberate upon two issues: holding simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections regardless of Hams’ objection, and repealing the Oslo Accords unilaterally. The latter shocked the participants in the meeting and they asked for more time to ponder over the issue. The underlying message of the first proposal - holding the elections - was in fact an emphasis on maintaining the Oslo Accords.

Under such circumstances, Mahmoud Abbas is pursuing membership of Palestine in the UN; an initiative which Obama welcomed two years ago but turned his back on it a year later.

The European governments are not independent from the US in their Middle East policies. Even the so-called French and British initiatives are nothing more than a series of efforts under the US umbrella. Therefore, in an attempt to avoid the last year's rejection, Abbas may minimize the level of his demand and not ask for full membership.

Meanwhile, Abbas marked a remarkable achievement last year by obtaining UNESCO membership for Palestine. The US immediately cut its annual USD 80 million contribution to the organization. No one wants the same to happen to the UN.

Nevertheless, there are still hopes for Mahmoud Abbas. Under the Camp David Accord, Israel should have granted a five-year autonomy to the territories occupied in 1967 and let the people determine their own fate through a referendum. The US ignored this part of the peace accord between Egypt and Israel in 1979, as a result of which Israel embarked on settlement construction in the West Bank in an attempt to ruin chances for the establishment of a sovereign and unified Palestinian country.

Now, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi reminds the US that Cairo is not the only party to respect the Camp David Accord and Washington itself should respect the provisions of the accord with regard to Palestine. Now, can Mahmoud Abbas open this window a little more?