The release of all Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel is a key demand of the Palestinian people (photo: Ahmad Jaradat, AIC).
When I read in last week’s newspapers that President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu
Mazen) was threatening Israel
with dismantlement of the Palestinian Authority if Olmert would release Hamas
leaders from detention, my first reaction was that this is no more than a spin,
and that there will be an immediate statement by the President's office,
denying the Israeli journalist's
"information". And, indeed, a few hours later, Fatah leadership in
Ramallah denied that such a threat was made and stated that they are demanding
the release of all the Palestinian political prisoners, including Hamas
activists. So far so good, though Mahmoud Abbas himself did not deny that this
was his intention and message to the Israeli authorities.
The very idea of an exchange of prisoners that will not include Hamas
detainees is the most absurd scenario one can imagine. First and foremost,
because these detainees have never been condemned or even charged for any kind
of crime; they are administratively detained by an arbitrary political decision
of the Israeli government and its security services. Accepting that a Hamas
activist should remain behind bars without any due procedure, including even a
military procedure as it is usually the case in the occupied Palestinian territories,
implies that being Hamas, or being suspected of connections with Hamas,
excludes you from the community of human beings, protected by international law
and due procedures. George Bush has already excluded from mankind all al-Qaeda
supporters and alleged activists, when he decided to create the category of Guantanamo-detainees.
The US Supreme Court obliged him to put an end to such extreme behaviors. The
Israeli authorities did the same with the secret interrogation and detention
center number 391, which was closed down
after Israeli human rights lawyer, Lea Tsemel, discovered its existence and
appealed, with several human rights organizations, to the Israeli Supreme
Court.
Moreover, Hamas represents the majority of the Palestinian population of
Gaza AND the West Bank:
excluding Hamas from any kind of political legitimacy means excluding the
majority of the Palestinian people from such a legitimacy. What Israeli leaders
call, while referring to the Gaza Strip, "a terrorist entity" is
actually almost two million men, women and children who have been transferred
into an "entity" that should be eradicated, by bombarding civilians
and imposing an embargo that provokes hunger and epidemics.
Those who suggested to Abbas to sign a deal without the release of Hamas
detainees must be his toughest enemies for, if he would do such a thing, he
will definitely lose the remaining support he still maintains among the
Palestinian population, as one of the founding fathers of Fatah and the Palestinian
Liberation Organisation.
Abu Mazen should not forget that he is President of the Palestinian
Authority only because Hamas wants it. Without Hamas’ support, he would become
no more than a US
agent, imposed on the people by the US Security Coordinator, General Keith Dayton.
No Palestinian has forgotten that two years ago, Abbas suggested that Israel tighten its criminal siege on Gaza, in order to bring
about the fall of Hamas’ democratically elected government. In another
political and geographical context, such a leader would have been liquidated as
a Quisling.
The
fact that the entire Palestinian people are opposed to a civil war explains why
neither Hamas nor Fatah are entering the catastrophic path of political
assassinations or massive use of arms to impose its leadership. This is why in
the Gaza
clashes prior to this weekend, which were clearly and loudly denounced by all
the Palestinian factions, there exists very little doubt that behind the
alleged Fatah aggressions lie the hands of General Dayton, Israeli intelligence
offices and a gang of collaborators usurping the name of Fatah.
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