WHILE keeping mum on the ongoing Israeli destruction of Palestinian infrastructure and killing of Palestinians, the US and EU on Friday joined Israel and Canada in the economic and diplomatic war against the Hamas-led Palestinian government.
This was an attempt to sow divisions and instigate conflict between the presidency and premiership between Fatah and Hamas and incite Palestinians against their leadership.
This move was condemned by both President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya as a collective punishment and blackmail.
‘The Palestinian people should not be punished for their democratic choice,’ Abbas told reporters in Gaza on Friday.
By cutting the aid, the United States and European Union (EU) were ‘punishing all the people, workers and families,’ Abbas added.
‘We cannot say to the Palestinians that it is good to be democratic and at the same time we punish you,’ Abbas said. ‘The EU must find a mechanism to get aid to the Palestinian people, and at this time we are discussing such a mechanism.’
Referring to Israel, Abbas said: ‘I’m afraid they will boycott me. If they do not deal with me, I cannot do anything.’
Haniya said the US and EU move was ‘hasty, unjust, and punishing the Palestinian people.’
‘They (US and EU) are not punishing the government, but they are punishing the Palestinian people for their democratic choice,’ the prime minister said.
‘These decisions were hasty and unjust. The world should respect the choice of the Palestinian people,’ Haniya said in a press conference following a meeting with Abbas in Gaza city.
‘Putting obstacles before the government would never be useful for the entire region,’ Haniya warned, adding: ‘Failure is not in our dictionary, we will keep acting for the coming four years.’
Haniya said the EU’s move would backfire.
‘This decision will strengthen the Palestinian people’s support for the government because they will feel the government is being targeted because it wanted to protect their rights,’ he said.
Palestinian Foreign Minister, Mahmoud al-Zahar, voiced a similar warning: ‘I am afraid it may wreck the credibility of the European Union in the Arab and Islamic world . . . The conditions made in return for the aid were unjust,’ he said.
A spokesman for the Hamas government said the decision to suspend aid was a form of ‘blackmail’ that would harm the Palestinian people.
After the meeting, Abbas confirmed that Haniya’s government will be ‘absolutely’ authorised to carry out its mandate according to the Palestinian Basic Law, because it is ‘our government and it’s our duty to ensure its success,’ he said according the official news agency WAFA.
However, Abbas last week issued decrees that were interpreted by the media as curbing the authority of Haniya’s government, which raised speculations that Abbas and the former ruling Fatah movement were setting up a ‘shadow government.’
‘After a couple of months, Abbas will find himself forming a shadow government. This will be an alternative government, and at this point, differences between the two governments will begin to show, and the situation will be destabilised,’ the Editor-in-Chief of the Palestinian Ma’an news agency wrote on April 5.
The London-based pan-Arab newspaper, Al Hayat, added that some of the Palestinian officials in Fatah started discussing this idea in a serious way.
‘There are attempts to create parallel frameworks to some ministries in the Palestinian government,’ Haniya also said last week.
Abbas issued a presidential decree on Wednesday putting the General Administration for Crossings and Borders department under his direct responsibility.
Officials close to Abbas said he had been under pressure from the European Union, which threatened to withdraw its monitors from the key Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in response to Hamas’ political rise, Ha’aretz reported Friday.
‘Administration of the crossing points and borders will fall directly under the jurisdiction of the president,’ said a statement from Abbas’ office. ‘It is an independent administration in terms of finance, commerce and in security.’
The next day Abbas ordered a Fatah senior security executive, Rashid Abu Shbak, to head three security agencies, including Preventive Security, that fall under new Interior Minister Said Siyam, in addition to agencies already under the president’s aegis.
Though Siyam would technically be Abu Shbak’s boss, any dispute between the two would be resolved in the Abbas-headed National Security Council.
Abu Shbak said he was authorised to hire and fire officers in the three security branches. ‘Any recruitment of directors or deputy directors for any of the three services will be made through me,’ he was quoted as saying.
Abbas, on Thursday, also ordered that all diplomatic statements and dealings be coordinated with the PLO, the signatory to the Oslo agreement. The PLO, which Abbas heads, ordered the Hamas-led Foreign Ministry to coordinate with it before making major pronouncements on diplomatic policy.
On Wednesday, the Hamas cabinet replied, announcing that it was freezing ministerial appointments made by the previous government – and by Abbas – pending their review.
‘Any attempt to reduce the authorities of the government will harm its performance and its ability to carry out its duties,’ said cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad.
However, after their meeting in Gaza on Friday, Abbas and Haniya dispelled speculation about a ‘shadow government’ and pledged cooperation and integration between the Palestinian presidency and premiership.
Haniya told a press conference in Gaza that Abbas’ presidential chief of staff and the secretary general of the government will set up a coordinating body to resolve the disputes over authority.
‘We still stick to the political platform of the government, but we said we would deal openly with anything offered to us,’ he said, adding: ‘But this should be within the framework of protecting our people’s legitimate rights.’
He categorically denied rumours about a ‘shadow government.’
‘We agreed to form a joint team, which will be headed by bureau chiefs of the prime minister and the president, to deal with disagreement between the two sides,’ he announced.
Haniya added that he and Abbas agreed to work together to solve the Palestinians urgent problems.
‘There will be cooperation between the President and the Cabinet to find solutions to the current financial crisis and the policies that prolong the suffering of the people,’ he said.
