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From November 2006, Palestinian society has been pushed to
the brink of civil war by immense pressures of the international community and Israel. These
pressures, both economic and political, succeeded in dividing Palestinian society,
generating bloody civil confrontations and now creating two governments but no
state.
On 17 June, a new government was sworn in by the Palestinian
President, Mahmoud Abbas. Although this government, now headed by the Minister
of Finance, Salam Fayyad, was nominated without the support or even advisement by
the democratically elected Palestinian Legislative Council, it already enjoys the
full support of Israel, the United States and the European Union. All of these
entities now plan to end their boycott, imposed on the Palestinian people following
the Hamas victory in the democratic national elections of January 2006.
The nomination of a de facto Palestinian government is the
direct consequence of the policies adopted by the United
States and Israel towards the Palestinians
following the Palestinian national and democratic elections of January 2006.
The United States
and the European Union demonstrated their cynicism when they rejected the
results of these elections, embargoing all aid to the Palestinian Authority
(PA) and isolating the PA within international community. Moreover, Washington allies in Fatah knew the US will support a violent overthrow
of the electoral results.
The United States
and the EU lost all credibility and moral standing when, by following Israel’s
policies, they continuously incited for the violent overthrow of this
democratically elected Palestinian government. Their support for Fayyad’s
government is currently conditioned on the readiness of this unelected government
to adopt oppressive measures against all forms of Palestinian opposition, to
both the ongoing Israeli occupation and the appointment of a government that
directly contradicts the results of the democratic elections.
Indeed, since November 2006, Palestinian forces trained and
financed by the United
States in the Gaza Strip have been attempting
a military overthrow of the democratically elected government, leading the
Palestinian society to civil war. However, their last attempt failed and resulted
in a total collapse of the policies advocated by Israel
and the United States.
The Salam Fayyad government in the West
Bank was appointed as a consequence of the collapse of Fatah
military policies in the Gaza Strip. This government will be unable to resolve
the Palestinian infighting and will not be able to end the Israeli occupation,
the real and primary problem facing Palestinian society.
Support for Palestinian political factions within
Palestinian society is not divided by regions. Fatah enjoys sizable popular support
in the Gaza Strip and Hamas still maintains support of the majority of the
Palestinians in the West Bank. Thus, efforts
by Fatah and Hamas to assume full control in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip respectively will lead to further violence and bloodshed.
Moreover, despite the international support guaranteed to
the government of Salam Fayyad, it will be unable to solve the Israeli
occupation and its daily oppressive policies. Fayyad’s government will not be
able to tear down the Wall, to break the Israeli siege on Palestinian urban
centers, to halt the construction of settlements and to stop the assassination
of Palestinian popular leaders. None of those problems will be resolved by the
Hamas government in Gaza
either, despite its democratic legitimacy.
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