06-15-2007, 01:32 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Arab versus Arab </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Hamas shows the enemy is within
The raging civil war in Gaza has overshadowed other developments in West Asia, including the bloody standoff between the Lebanese Army and Islamists holed up in Palestinian camps in Beirut. Indeed, such has been the intensity of the fighting between extremist Hamas and moderate Fatah forces in Gaza - scores have been killed, many more injured - that it has detracted attention from the 40th anniversary of Israel's stunning victory in the Six-Day War. With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah finding itself squeezed out of Gaza by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas, Governments in Europe, the US and West Asia are scrambling to come up with an appropriate response. The US and the EU have declared cessation of all aid, which does not mark much of a departure from their policy ever since Hamas came to power in March 2006, while Arab Governments are yet to respond. Israel, which believes "Gaza is lost", has rightly decided to stay out of the conflict and let the two sides of Palestinian politics slug it out; any assistance to Fatah in the form of arms and ammunition at this stage may prove counter-productive as the arsenal may ultimately end up in Hamas's armoury. But calculated restraint by others at this point of time may not prove to be a good idea: To allow Hamas to take over Gaza would have consequences that would adversely affect all players in West Asia's turbulent politics. For instance, with Gaza under its belt, we can expect Hamas to eye both Israel and Egypt. It will also mean a big boost for Hizbullah in southern Lebanon and the Islamists who have now taken over the Palestinian leadership in Beirut's camps. For Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the two big players who have the most at stake, a rampaging Hamas is particularly bad news. It indicates Iran further expanding the theatre of its influence as Sunni power declines.
So where do we go from here? For starters, both the US and the EU have to get rid of the lethargy that seems to have overtaken Washington and Brussels. This is the time to play a pro-active role, not necessarily by trying to open a channel with Hamas but by bolstering Mr Abbas's forces. If neither wants to sully its hands, let the UN Security Council meet and authorise the deployment of an international force to restore peace and end the civil war before it spills over into West Bank. More important, inaction at this stage will only embolden Iran. This is also an opportune moment to let Arab states know, in unambiguous terms, that it is futile to try and accommodate mismatching pieces in the peace jigsaw puzzle. King Abdullah's much-vaunted Mecca initiative for a unity Government has turned out to be a non-starter: For all his public proclamations, Mr Haniyeh has turned out to be no better than what he was always perceived as - a snake in the grass, biding his time to strike. Of course, for the moment all talk of kickstarting the stalled West Asia peace process must cease. It would be silly to think of sitting across the negotiating table with Palestinians squabbling among themselves. A last point that needs to be made refers to US President George Bush's flawed West Asia policy based on democratising Arabs and Arab societies. Elections elsewhere in the world may be a good idea, but in the sands of Arabia, they tend to bring malcontents to power. For evidence, look at the ascent of Hamas in Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
Hamas shows the enemy is within
The raging civil war in Gaza has overshadowed other developments in West Asia, including the bloody standoff between the Lebanese Army and Islamists holed up in Palestinian camps in Beirut. Indeed, such has been the intensity of the fighting between extremist Hamas and moderate Fatah forces in Gaza - scores have been killed, many more injured - that it has detracted attention from the 40th anniversary of Israel's stunning victory in the Six-Day War. With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah finding itself squeezed out of Gaza by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Hamas, Governments in Europe, the US and West Asia are scrambling to come up with an appropriate response. The US and the EU have declared cessation of all aid, which does not mark much of a departure from their policy ever since Hamas came to power in March 2006, while Arab Governments are yet to respond. Israel, which believes "Gaza is lost", has rightly decided to stay out of the conflict and let the two sides of Palestinian politics slug it out; any assistance to Fatah in the form of arms and ammunition at this stage may prove counter-productive as the arsenal may ultimately end up in Hamas's armoury. But calculated restraint by others at this point of time may not prove to be a good idea: To allow Hamas to take over Gaza would have consequences that would adversely affect all players in West Asia's turbulent politics. For instance, with Gaza under its belt, we can expect Hamas to eye both Israel and Egypt. It will also mean a big boost for Hizbullah in southern Lebanon and the Islamists who have now taken over the Palestinian leadership in Beirut's camps. For Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the two big players who have the most at stake, a rampaging Hamas is particularly bad news. It indicates Iran further expanding the theatre of its influence as Sunni power declines.
So where do we go from here? For starters, both the US and the EU have to get rid of the lethargy that seems to have overtaken Washington and Brussels. This is the time to play a pro-active role, not necessarily by trying to open a channel with Hamas but by bolstering Mr Abbas's forces. If neither wants to sully its hands, let the UN Security Council meet and authorise the deployment of an international force to restore peace and end the civil war before it spills over into West Bank. More important, inaction at this stage will only embolden Iran. This is also an opportune moment to let Arab states know, in unambiguous terms, that it is futile to try and accommodate mismatching pieces in the peace jigsaw puzzle. King Abdullah's much-vaunted Mecca initiative for a unity Government has turned out to be a non-starter: For all his public proclamations, Mr Haniyeh has turned out to be no better than what he was always perceived as - a snake in the grass, biding his time to strike. Of course, for the moment all talk of kickstarting the stalled West Asia peace process must cease. It would be silly to think of sitting across the negotiating table with Palestinians squabbling among themselves. A last point that needs to be made refers to US President George Bush's flawed West Asia policy based on democratising Arabs and Arab societies. Elections elsewhere in the world may be a good idea, but in the sands of Arabia, they tend to bring malcontents to power. For evidence, look at the ascent of Hamas in Palestine and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
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