Hamas and Fatah need to unite if they want the Arabs to do the same
MP Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, had some sound advice for Palestine”s feuding Fatah and Hamas factions over the weekend. In essence, he told them that if they want their Arab brethren to united behind them, they must first unite behind their own people in the face of Israel”s withering assault on the Gaza Strip. Accept whatever you want – guns, money, moral support – from outside powers, he said, but do not mortgage your independence in return, and under no circumstances allow the enemy to sow new divisions.
Rhetorical signals have begun to indicate that the Israeli assault is serving as a crucible for rival Palestinian political forces, both in Palestine and here in Lebanon, but it will take more than words to forge a new era of unity. It will take a general recognition on both sides that they are in this together: If Hamas "loses" in Gaza, Fatah loses, too, as do all Palestinians – and anyone else interested in a just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The differences between the two groups are profound, but they pale in comparison to the broad gulf separating the rights of the Palestinian people and Israeli policies designed to bludgeon them into submission.
Much the same could be said of the Arab world as a whole. For more than a week, while we have been calling one another names, the people of Gaza have been subjected to state terrorism on an appalling scale. Our common enemy has taken comfort in our squabbles, and even used them to justify its defiance of near-universal calls to halt the slaughter. For years the Israelis have failed to accept the fact that even their vaunted military might will not snuff out the aspirations of the Palestinians, so why encourage them to persist in their murderous folly?
As Jumblatt remarked, Lebanon allowed itself to be divided along the very fault lines that Israel targeted with ruthless efficiency during this country”s own war with the Zionist state in 2006. We are still dealing with the consequences of that, but the lessons for Palestine could be any clearer. Hamas and Fatah will have plenty of time to debate internal issues when the current nightmare is over. For now, they have no choice but to hang together – or they will surely hang alone.