LOS ANGELES.–Cracking down on militants in the West Bank city of Tubas, 88-year-old Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas showed that he’s still in control of his territory, controlled since taking over in 2004 the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] from its founder Yasser Arafat. Abbas spoke recently at the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 26, blaming Israel for its massacre in Gaza of Palestinians, now over 42,000 deaths, according to Hamas authorities. But all the tough talk by Abbas belies the crackdown on militants in Tubas that threaten his rule in Ramallah, all seeking to turn the West Bank into another Gaza Strip. But unlike Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Abbas knows how to survive and get along with Israel, leaving West Bank residents living in a more peaceful atmosphere. Abbas would like to see all Arab lands liberated but knows not to push things too far with Israel.
Inheriting the PLO from Arafat, Abbas believes in Palestine Liberation but has taken a more peaceful approach, largely out of necessity, knowing if he become like Hamas he would watch the West Bank decimated by Israel overnight. So, for whatever reason, Abbas lives within the reality of coexisting with Israel, knowing that the once Jordan-controlled territory shares land with Israel. White House officials would like to see Abbas play a more active role in Gaza’s new leadership under its reconstruction but knows that Hamas would order his assassination like they did Arafat in 2004. So, when it comes to ending the Gaza War, the White House has no plan for a transition government led by a responsible member of the Palestinian Authority. Most Palestinians in the West Bank would like to see 65-year-old Marwan Barghouti released from an Israeli prison to lead the new Gaza-West Bank entity.
Barghouti, at least for now, is seen by Israel as a militant, hell-bent on Israel’s destruction, much the same way as Hamas. Whether or not Barghouti has changed in prison is anyone’s guess. What’s known about Barghouti before his 2002 imprisonment for mayhem in the first and second Intifadas or Palestinian uprisings in 1993 and 2000. Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a ceasefire, he must have ironclad assurance that Hamas would be removed from the Gaza Strip. President Joe Biden, 81, would like a ceasefire agreement to help Kamala get elected but knows that nothing will happen until after the Nov. 5 election. When it comes to new leadership in Gaza, there’s no name that’s emerged as capable of leading a newly reconstituted Gaza Strip with Abbas regarded now as too old to take on the long-term task of rebuilding the Palestinian Mediterranean territory.
Cracking down in Tubas shows Hamas that Abbas cannot be trusted to carry on the militant tradition of liberating Palestine, the goal of Hamas and other militant group like Islamic Jihad. Hope sprang eternal in 1993 when former President Bill Clinton helped broker the Oslo Accords that established the Palestinian Authority, an offshoot of the PLO, to serve as a peace partner to work toward establishment of a Palestinian State in Gaza and the West Bank. All those hopes crashed and burned with Barghouti’s Second Intifada in 2000, right before Clinton left office. Once Sept. 11, 2001 occurred, a new President George W. Bush was fighting terrorism, no longer involved with Mideast peacemaking. A few years later, Arafat was poisoned most likely by Hamas, leaving what was left of Mideast peace in shambles. Today’s disaster in Gaza started in 2007 when Hamas seized Gaza from the PA by force.
Abbas knows that his security services can’t allow the same anarchy that happened in Gaza to spread to the West Bank. West Bank residents live, in comparison to Gaza, relatively stable lives. While there are militant factions loyal of Hamas, Abbas manages to keep them in check so the West Bank doesn’t end up like Gaza. Abbas walks a fine line denouncing Israel while maintaining law-and-order in the West Bank, where, for better or worse, there’s a normal, stable life in the West Bank. Islamic Jihad factions, loyal to Hamas, have been giving Abbas trouble in Tubas, where his security services have just cracked down. Tubas Governor Ahmed al-Assad said he’s been dealing with Islamic Jihad planting bombs near a school in Tubas. “We don’t want–under the slogan of resistance or any other slogan–to destroy our country and to destroy Tubas,” al-Assad said.
Voices like Al-Assad in Tubas prove there are Palestinian voices seeking peaceful coexistence with Israel, capable to leading territories like Gaza to a peaceful resolution but only if Hamas leaves the Gaza Strip. “Our approach is clear and is the approach of the President [Abbas] the approach of peaceful, popular resistance and safeguarding security and order,” Al-Assad said, showing as sensible approach to West Bank leadership. Abbas finds himself the razor’s edge, placating Hamas in Gaza, while maintaining law-and-order in the West Bank. Abbas doesn’t want to end up like Arafat, most likely killed by Hamas factions for trying to make peace with Israel. Arafat went through his militant period but realized that only negotiation and compromise can bring about lasting peace. Hamas’s militant approach has proven disastrous for the 2.3 million in Gaza Strip.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
