Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch - Part 7: It's official
We've now reached Part 7 of the Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch. Parts 1 - 6 are
here,
here,
here,
here,
here and
here. Now it's official: '
Moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen is now confirming that he is
meeting with three Hamas 'officials.' He hasn't given any other details, but I gather they are not discussing the weather.
Abbas's office confirmed that he had met with three Hamas West Bank officials: Faraj Rumaneh, Hussein Abu Quaik and Nasser A-din al-Shaar but gave no further details.
The news comes despite Abbas's statements on Sunday that he would resume talks with Hamas only if the organization relinquishes control over the Gaza Strip. Abbas had also said that Hamas was planning to overthrow the Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank with the help of external forces.
In a press conference earlier this week, Rumaneh and Abu Quaik had distanced themselves from a Gaza counterpart who bragged that the group would eventually take over the West Bank. Rumaneh had expressed his "discomfort" with the statements. "We think they contradict Hamas policy, which calls for dialogue and national unity and reducing difference," he had said.
Nasser Al-Shaar served in the past as the Palestinian Authority's deputy prime minister and education minister.
Message to
Ehud K. Olmert and
Condi Rice: Keep telling yourselves that there's a difference between Fatah and Hamas.
Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch, Part 4
Ahmed Youssef, the political adviser to the elected, 'moderate', 'Palestinian' Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, reports that
talks to arrange a sulha between Haniyeh and 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen are proceeding apace.
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud K. Olmert tells his
Kadima Achora party that Israel
'finally' has a 'partner' for 'peace', that he is optimistic about Abu Mazen, that he is looking for opportunities to say yes, and that - by the way - he is going to propose to the cabinet to release an unstated number of 'Palestinian'
prisoners terrorists on Sunday morning.
The political adviser to the de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, told Ma'an on Thursday that Fatah and Hamas have engaged in a secret dialogue, in an attempt to break the current political deadlock.
Ahmad Youssef also revealed the details of draft solutions drawn up by various Arab mediators, negotiating between the two sides.
"The conditions are now better for the two sides to accept Arab interventions and there are efforts and the willingness by Fatah and the presidency to deal with them," he told Ma'an.
He also added that there are factions within the Fatah movement and the presidency that are more willing than ever to accept mediation.
"Reconciliation will be achieved after all institutions and security sites are turned back to the Palestinian authority, and the Cairo and the Mecca agreements are implemented. We will hand over everything on condition we sit around the negotiating table so as to restructure several issues, specifically the security file," he said.
Reconciliation with their friends in Fatah. But not with Israel or the Jewish presence in Israel:
Youssef said that Hamas is ready for a long-term truce with Israel, adding that Hamas was ready to commit the Palestinian parties to the ceasefire if in turn Israel committed itself to opening the crossings.
But he threatened to use "all means" in response to Israeli attacks, the continued blockade of the Gaza Strip and the world's indifference to the suffering of the Palestinians.
"We have received communications from religious institutions and Jewish rabbis to try to maintain a truce for six months in exchange for keeping the crossings open," he said.
Youssef said that contact between Hamas, religious institutions and Jewish rabbis may play a prominent role in the solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He claimed that the rabbis have a strong relationship with the Israeli Defense Ministry and they are trying to contact Hamas to set up a meeting in the Gaza Strip.
I wonder which rabbis Youssef has in mind. Maybe that has something to do with
this story. (And for those who follow that link - I don't know anyone who got hepatitis last Shmitta from eating produce from Gaza. On the other hand, last Shmitta was before the Jews were expelled from Gush Katif and most of our produce came from there).
Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch - Part 6
'
Moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen is going to
resume talks with Hamas' Ismail Haniyeh immediately after the Annapolis
conference lynching of Israel next month. Today, that became obvious yet again through an article in the London-based Arabic daily al-Hayat.
In the report published by the London-based Al Hayat newspaper on Saturday, a Hamas source revealed that Abbas had agreed to hold talks with Hamas in Egypt following the summit.
According to the source, "Many Arab countries tried convincing Abu Mazen [Abbas] to hold talks between [Fatah and Hamas], but every time he requested a postponement. Recently, during a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Basheer, Abu Mazen agreed to begin the talks after Basheer discussed with him the importance of a dialogue."
The source went on to say that following Abbas's compliance with Basheer's request, the Khartoum government rushed to ask the Egyptians to host the event, because Sudan deems Egypt to be the most capable country to manage the Palestinian issue.
Furthermore, according to the report, representatives from Hamas and Fatah have recently held secret talks in order to "feel out a pulse" for further dialogue. "A few meetings were held between influential people in Hamas and Fatah," said the Hamas source, "but were informal in nature.
"Both sides are trying to clarify the expectations of the other, but the talks are held in secret because making them public could complicate the situation," the Hamas source went on to say, adding that the talks in Egypt would focus on fundamental differences between the sides. Among the issues the sides are currently divided on include the control and structure of Palestinian security services.
The Post reports that Abu Mazen denied the al-Hayat report. But if you read the article carefully, you see that the denial did not come directly from Abu Mazen, but was reported by Labor party MK Ephraim Sneh - a known leftist - who met with Abu Mazen in Ramallah today. The first paragraph of the Post article reports that:
Palestinian Authority President denied reports on Saturday that he had agreed to begin talks with Hamas following the US-sponsored Middle East summit scheduled to take place in Annapolis in November.
The seventh paragraph hints that Abu Mazen's 'denial' in fact came from Sneh:
But according to MK Ephraim Sneh (Labor), who met with Abbas and PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad in Ramallah on Saturday, the PA president denied the Al Hayat report, and said that he refused to talk with Hamas.
Abu Mazen has never denied his desire to arrange a
sulha with Hamas:
Abbas has previously stated that he would only talk to Hamas if it stepped down from power in the Gaza Strip. During a trip by Abbas to Saudi Arabia in September a PA official told The Jerusalem Post that "President Abbas will stress...his keenness on resuming dialogue with Hamas only after Hamas reverses the situation in the Gaza Strip and apologizes for its military coup."
Note that Abu Mazen has never broken completely from Hamas. And contrary to the delusions of Israel's left, he never will.
Previous posts in this series are
here,
here,
here,
here, and
here.
Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch
I am sure you will all be
shocked - just
shocked - to hear that less than 24 hours after 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen told dhimmi-witted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert that he has 'no intention' of reconciling with Hamas, and just days after pocketing
millions of dollars in American and Israeli money and weapons for his 'security officers,' and '
goodwill gesture' releases of terrorists, the Jerusalem Post is reporting this morning on '
secret negotiations' to arrange for a
sulha (reconciliation) between Fatah and Hamas.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday evening they did not have any information about secret Fatah-Hamas talks, but that Olmert made it clear to Abbas on Monday that Israel strongly opposed a renewal of negotiations that would lead to another united Palestinian government.
The sources said Hamas-Fatah talks could have severe "diplomatic ramifications," and that Israel would again cut off contact with a PA government that included Hamas.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday he was prepared to step down to pave the way for the resumption of the Hamas-Fatah talks. This was the first time he had made such a statement since Hamas's takeover.
...
One of the proposals being discussed calls for handing over all the security headquarters in the Gaza Strip to the Egyptian security forces as a first step toward resuming the dialogue.
Fatah officials here told The Jerusalem Post some Arab countries were involved in mediation efforts to resolve the crisis between Hamas and Fatah. They named Muhammad Jassem al-Saqer, a Kuwaiti national and speaker of the Arab Parliament, as the driving force behind the mediation efforts.
...
Another Fatah official told the Post Russia was also involved in the mediation efforts. Noting that Abbas had visited Moscow recently, the official said the Russian government had made it clear to Abbas that President Vladimir Putin was keen on resolving the crisis between the two parties.
"The Russians informed Abbas that they were planning to invite senior Hamas representatives to Moscow for talks on ways of resolving the dispute," he said. "We are not opposed to the mediation efforts, but there are certain conditions that Hamas must fulfill before we move forward. Hamas must apologize for its coup and hand over all the security installations it occupied last June."
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a senior Fatah official and Abbas aide, said his faction was not opposed to launching a dialogue with Hamas. But, he said, Hamas must first recognize the legitimate authority of Abbas and retreat from its military coup.
"We want to hear from Hamas an apology for what they did in the Gaza Strip," Abdel Rahman said. "If they want to resume the dialogue with Fatah, they must first admit that they made a mistake when they staged a coup against the legitimate authority."
Ahmed Yusef, a political advisor to Haniyeh, confirmed that secret talks were being held with Fatah to resolve the crisis. He said representatives of various Palestinian political factions and some Arab governments were playing a major role in attempts to patch up differences between the two parties.
"These are behind-the-scenes talks that are being held far from the media to ensure their success," Yusef said. "Some Arab and Islamic countries are keen on restoring Palestinian national unity. They are making huge efforts to iron out differences between Ramallah and Gaza."
Asked if Hamas was prepared to apologize for its takeover of the Gaza Strip, Yusef said, "I see no reason for apologies. We might even reach a situation where the brothers in Ramallah may have to apologize to Gaza and not vice versa."
Yusef said he was convinced Abbas was interested in talking to Hamas despite his harsh statements.
"We understand his anger following what happened in the Gaza Strip," he said. "We are aware that what happened came as a shock to Abbas and his team because they lost everything in the Gaza Strip."
The real problem, Yusef said, was with people surrounding Abbas who do not want him to talk to Hamas.
"These people are serving an American-Israeli agenda," he said. "They want to maintain the split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and are working toward foiling any attempt to reach understandings between Fatah and Hamas."
Yusef expected the two parties to reach an agreement to end their differences within the next two months.
"We are beginning to feel that the mediation efforts are very serious," he said. "We are convinced that during this period we will able to strike a deal regarding political partnership between Fatah and Hamas."
Now repeat after me: Fatah and Hamas share the same goal; the differences between them are tactical. Fatah and Hamas share the same goal; the differences between them are tactical. Fatah and Hamas share the same goal; the differences between them are tactical.
Update 11:20 AMJust to show you how slanted the Israeli media is....
Haaretz, Israel's
Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily, has no mention of the story above, and instead is reporting that Fatah is requesting '
large shipments of weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles' from Egypt and Jordan to 'stave off Hamas.'
I guess God is proving that He can continue the Jewish state's existence despite its imbecilic chattering classes.
Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch - Part 5
For those who have missed it, Parts 1 - 4 of this series may be found
here,
here,
here and
here.
The London-based Arabic daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reports today that '
moderate' 'Palestinian President'
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen and '
moderate'
deposed 'Palestinian' Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh are on the verge of
kissing and making up.
According to the report, Hamas is willing to initiate dialogue with Fatah and transfer control of the border crossings to Egypt.
The report, which presents the general outline of Hamas' plan, said the organization has also expressed its willingness to temporarily transfer control of its security forces and the border crossings in Gaza to Egypt until the formation of a new PA security force with consent of both organizations.
The plan also calls for an end to the mutual smear campaigns in the Palestinian media and the scheduling of a meeting between Hamas and Fatah representatives in one of the Arab countries. Fatah has yet to reply to the proposal, the report said.
Hamas' plan also touches on the sensitive issues that have been discussed by the both sides in the past, such as the reestablishment of a unity government based on the Cairo and Mecca accords, and the fate of the prisoners captured by both sides during and after Hamas' takeover of Gaza.
The plan also calls for the reestablishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization institutions, as specified by the Cairo accords, as well as the acceptance of a number of principles, including the territorial unification of Gaza and the West Bank and the "rejection of any attempts to divide the Palestinian people".
When will this 'dialogue happen? Here's my guess: It depends on whether the US-sponsored
peace conference gang tackle of Israel actually takes place. At the moment, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are all refusing to attend the 'conference' unless Israel
waves a white flag of surrender first. If the 'conference' does not take place, look for the Abu Mazen - Haniyeh 'dialogue' to take place in the next few weeks under Egyptian and Saudi sponsorship. If the 'conference' does take place, look for the 'Palestinians' to be 'disappointed' and for the 'dialogue' to take place in response to that 'disappointment.'
Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch - 3; Olmert fights back
For those who have forgotten,
number 2 in this series was here and
number 1 was here.
'Moderate' 'Palestinian President'
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen may have been in Jerusalem yesterday to romance Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud K. Olmert, but his heart is still in Gaza with 'moderate'
deposed 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Ismail Haniyeh. And Haniyeh has decided to
strike up their romance again. Hamas was prepared to cede to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas control of PA institutions and bases in the Gaza Strip, in return for a renewal of the unity government, reforms in the PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organization] and reinstating the Palestinian parliament, Israel Radio quoted a report from the pan Arab daily Asharq Alawsat, Wednesday.
The proposal was reportedly given by Hamas seniors to Abbas on Tuesday but the leadership of Hamas was reluctant to embrace it.
A Palestinian source was quoted as saying that
if Hamas leaders would become supportive of the proposal, Abbas would accept it.
For those of you who think that Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud K. Olmert is going to take this lying down, think again. Olmert is trying to compete with Haniyeh and has come up with an even
better offer for Abu Mazen.
Palestinian militants exiled from the West Bank in 2002 - following a stand-off with the IDF in which gunmen took over the Church of the Nativity - may be allowed to return, senior sources from the Palestinian Authority said Tuesday.
According to the sources, future coordination of the issue was agreed upon during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier Tuesday.
Family members of the exiles and sources in the Palestinian Authority expressed hope that an agreement would soon be consolidated that would allow the militants to return to Bethlehem, as the exiles in Gaza – primarily Fatah-affiliated - have been complaining of harassment by Hamas since the group's June takeover of Gaza.
Exile Jihad Jaara told Ynet that, according to information he received from senior Palestinian officials, a solution for the exiles will be implemented beginning Ramadan, at the beginning of October.
For those of you who have forgotten what happened at the Church of the Nativity, there's
background here. For more on Jihad Jaara, go
here and
here.
Abu Mazen is doing a great job of playing Hamas and Olmert off against each other, while
continuing the terror and maintaining plausible deniability. His mentor would be pleased.
Abu Mazen - Haniyeh sulha watch - 2
For those who have forgotten,
part 1 in this series is here.
The Jerusalem Post is reporting tonight that the 'Palestinian Authority's
'efforts' to thwart Hamas in Judea and Samaria have largely failed and that the Izaddin al-Kassam brigades - Hamas' 'armed wing' - have become very active in some areas. I'm sure you're all as shocked about that as I am.
What's more interesting is what
Jibril Rajoub has been up to:
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said one of Abbas's close confidants, former PA security chief Jibril Rajoub, recently held secret talks in Damascus with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in a bid to resolve the Hamas-Fatah crisis.
Rajoub, who is being mentioned as a possible successor to Abbas, also held talks in Cairo with top Egyptian political and security officials on ways of ending the crisis. Fatah officials have strongly denied that they were engaged in any form of talks with Hamas.
This isn't the first time we've heard these stories. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
And even if Abu Mazen weren't trying to get back together with Hamas, his 'armed wing' (the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades) apparently already has:
The official revealed that the Hamas gunmen were working in coordination with other armed Palestinian groups, including ones belonging to Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad.
"We are very worried about what's happening in the West Bank, especially in Nablus, where Izaddin al-Kassam appears to have resumed its activities after a long lull," the official said. "In recent weeks the group has been launching almost daily attacks on Israeli military patrols … particularly in the northern West Bank."
And for those of you who are waiting for Abu Mazen to fight terror, I suggest that you not hold your breaths:
PA security forces have rounded up nearly 200 Hamas activists in the West Bank since Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip. But the majority of the detainees are not linked to Hamas's armed wing.
"We are going after the wrong guys," the official noted. "We are detaining journalists, university students and low-level political operatives. Meanwhile, Izaddin al-Kassam is establishing secret cells and acquiring more weapons."
The PA security forces have also failed to gather sufficient intelligence about Hamas's attempts to recruit West Bank Palestinians to its paramilitary Executive Force. PA officials are convinced that Hamas is secretly trying to establish an Executive Force in the West Bank as a first step toward overthrowing Abbas's regime.
PA security officials claimed earlier this month that they had uncovered a Hamas cell in the Bethlehem area whose members had received instructions from the Hamas leadership in Syria to establish an Executive Force. The 13-member cell was headed by Hamas activist Nader Muhammed Jubran.
But after three weeks of questioning, Jubran and his cohorts were released from prison. A PA security commander in Bethlehem told the Post that the men were released because of lack of evidence. He pointed out that the PA security forces would continue to follow the movements of the cell members to make sure that they did not pursue their plans to establish a security force.
"The cell was operating on direct instructions from the top Hamas leadership in Damascus," the security commander said. "Some of the Hamas men have been receiving assistance from Fatah gunmen, and this is very worrying."
Yeah. Some of them are even receiving
assistance from Fatah itself and not just from Fatah 'gunmen.'
He revealed that a cell belonging to Izaddin al-Kassam was behind the assassination attempt on Col. Idris Ja'bari, the commander of the PA security forces in Halhoul, near Hebron, earlier this month. Ja'bari was critically wounded when gunmen opened fire at him outside his home. He had been responsible for the detention of scores of Hamas activists in his area over the past two months.
That ought to be enough to put a stop to any operations against Hamas. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt now, would we?
'Senior official': 'No point' to Olmert - Abu Mazen talks
This is from a Jerusalem Post story on
today's meeting between Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud K. Olmert and '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen in Olmert's
Succa.
A senior official said just as Olmert was beginning his meeting with Abbas that if Arab reports claiming Abbas had agreed to renew talks with Hamas were true, there was no point in continuing negotiations.
The Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem issued a statement saying Israel's stance regarding Hamas was "known and unequivocal." The statement further emphasized that the government rejects any attempts by the Palestinian Authority to negotiate with Hamas and added that all Israeli officials traveling abroad are instructed to ask of their foreign counterparts to step up pressure on Abbas against making any effort to bridge the gap with the extremist Muslim Hamas movement.
And this is what the London Arabic daily
al-Sharq al-Awsat reported today:
According to the report, a Palestinian source told the newspaper that Egypt's efforts to mediate between the two movements have succeeded and have yielded an agreement in principle to hold secret talks in Cairo.
Last weekend, Abbas said in an interview with Newsweek that he was against Hamas and now identifies with the American stance. He also said that he would not reunite in a government with Hamas under any circumstances "because it was a very bad experience."
Asked about his conditions for talks with Hamas, Abbas replied that the two groups would talk only after the situation in the Gaza Strip returns to its original state.
According to the Palestinian source who spoke to al-Sharq al-Awsat, however, Abbas informed Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who is in charge of the mediation efforts, of his agreement in principle to launch a secret dialogue with Hamas representatives.
The source added that Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah faction in the Palestinian parliament, will head the movement's delegation to the talks, although a date for the start of the dialogue has yet to be set.
According to the report, General Suleiman asked both movements to provide him with their "vision" for a solution to the crisis before setting a date to start the talks. The Egyptian suggestion for solving the dispute will be presented to the representatives when the meetings begin.
...
According to the report, Suleiman has been holding direct talks with members of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, headed by the organization's politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, in addition to the ongoing talks with Abbas and Fatah leaders in the territories and elsewhere.
The report added that Mustafa Othman Ismail, the Sudanese president's foreign affairs advisor, recently contacted Abbas and Mashaal and offered to mediate between the two, but went back on his offer after learning that Egypt was already leading the mediation efforts.
Different sources from both movements told the newspaper that "unplanned meetings" had already been held between representatives of the two movements in Beirut following meetings held by the Palestinian factions three weeks ago.
According to the reports, Abbas' former national security advisor Jibril Rajoub met with Muhammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas' political bureau in a bid to solve the crisis, but the meeting failed to bring the movements closer.
Sounds like Part 6 of the
sulha watch is just around the corner.
I have reached the point where I don't understand why the Israeli government is willing to negotiate with Fatah and not with Hamas. Both want to wipe out the State of Israel and exterminate its Jews - but Hamas wants to do it immediately while Fatah wants to do it in phases. Most of the terror attacks over the past few years have come from Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (and Palestinian Islamic Jihad) rather than Hamas anyway. I'm not saying we should negotiate with Hamas - I'm just wondering why the government is negotiating with Fatah and making such a big deal over Fatah negotiating with Hamas. It looks like "six of one, half a dozen of the other" to me.
