Jun

19

Classic Divide and Conquer

June 19, 2007 |

One of my favorite things to do is ‘watch’ the media after a certain event and see how the creative minds start playing on words. With the recent turmoil in the Occupied Territories, the ‘buzz words’ are all too common. From ‘Hamastan’ to ‘Fatahland’ to ‘West Bank First’, when the word comes out, the rest of the media latch on to it and forget about every other word in the dictionary. By now you’ve probably heard most of them. By now you realize that most of them don’t make sense and are being used to sensationalize the news more than anything else. In my view, the way the media plays on this terminology, especially with regards to the conflict in Gaza and the West Bank, only serves to create more tensions and play on the divisions that have resulted from the recent events. And that’s just the media.

The politicians too like to play on these words. They also like to put their words into action. Thankfully, there are some people who see beyond these failed policies. Maybe Iraq has opened up our eyes to the realities of civil war and how we can be the cause of it. Let me point you to a couple of good pieces that highlight the dangers of pumping up Fateh against Hamas at this sensitive time.

In the Washington Post, Robert Malley and Aaron David Miller write in “Don’t (West) Bank on It“:

Having embraced one illusion — that it could help isolate and defeat Hamas — the Bush administration is dangerously close to embracing another: Gaza is dead, long live the West Bank. This approach appears compelling. Flood the West Bank with money, boost Fatah security forces and create a meaningful negotiating process. The Palestinian people, drawn to a recovering West Bank and repelled by the nightmare of an impoverished Gaza, will rally around the more pragmatic of the Palestinians.

They add that this will not happen, and that Hamas’ isolation since its election has only garnered more anger towards the US than the Islamic party.

The diplomatic equivalent of the medical precept is do no harm. Since Hamas’s electoral victory, U.S. policy has helped strengthen radical forces, debilitate Palestinian institutions, undermine faith in democracy, weaken Abbas and set back the peace process. Why ask for more of the same?

An editorial in the Financial Times urges the West not to pick sides:

An international response to these woeful events is now coming into view. But the path signalled by the US and Europe looks dangerously close to an attempt to micromanage and to pick sides in an internal Palestinian dispute.

The west’s attitude has been hypocritical. First, the US and Europe encouraged elections, but when Hamas won, they cut off direct aid. Now the European Union is likely to resume direct aid to an emergency government set up by decree.

Behind the new international consensus is the goal of making the West Bank an exemplar of the benefits of co-operating with the west and renouncing terrorism. There is also a desire to limit contacts with Gaza to providing humanitarian aid and ensuring that essential staff are not left destitute. The champions of this approach are the US and Israel, but, as the biggest donor to the Palestinians, the EU also matters.

This of course, will not happen. The idea is that the West Bank will become a ‘model’ and the Palestinians in Gaza will be so jealous that they will reject Hamas’ influence.

With Hamas, which the White House regards as a terrorist group, now firmly in control of Gaza, the Bush administration is pursuing what some have called a “West Bank first” strategy in which money, aid and international political recognition would be heaped on the West Bank, enabling Mr. Abbas to develop a showcase government there that would attract support from ordinary Palestinians.

Naive assumptions indeed. The fact is, Fateh has been in power for decades and has not been able to make either the WB or Gaza a ‘model’. Why should we believe that they will suddenly shape up and actually allow the millions of aid dollars they receive to benefit the Palestinians? Why should we believe that they will suddenly be able to negotiate deals with Israel to loosen some restrictions in the West Bank such as the checkpoints? This is all wishful thinking. Worse, it’s outright deception that the Palestinian people will not fall for because they have first hand experience of Fateh’s tactics and it’s governing ability.

In the Guardian, Jonathan Freedland does a good job of explaining the reasons why the ‘West Bank First’ option will not work:

It sounds logical enough. Nurture a flowering Fatahland while pariah Hamastan withers away. But it is surely a delusion. The first and most obvious danger is that the more generous the west is to Abbas, the more his credibility will be destroyed.

Besides, the whole idea rests on a series of faulty assumptions. First, it assumes that Israel will indeed come through with the goodies it promises. On this, the record is not encouraging.

Ironically, what could happen is that Gaza will become the more safe and stable of the two. Already, it seems that Hamas is doing well at providing security by collecting weapons through house to house searches and encouraging residents to get back to their normal lives. With Dahlan’s gangs no longer roaming the streets, many people in Gaza are finally able to get back to their daily routines. That is, before the fuel supply runs out thanks to the Israeli company that stopped providing it to Gaza. But the reality of the situation is that Hamas has been able to keep things running for the past 18 months since the international community imposed sanctions on the Palestinian people.

Palestinians have endured a lot. And hopefully, they can overcome this pressure to divide them and further destabilize the Occupied Territories. Then the focus can be shifted back to the real cause of this turmoil: the illegal Israeli occupation that has rendered the territories incapable of being governed in any realistic or independent way.


Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. Hind on June 20, 2007 1:17 pm

    This whole disaster proves that the US with all its Think Tanks and hundreds of political science PhDs and “intellectuals” and “experts” and “strategists” from Harvard, MIT, Yale, Chicago universities can’t do a damn thing when extremist ideologies dominate the political discourse. Goes to show that objectivity and rationality jump out the window when religious extremism (Christian, jewish, or muslim) enter.

  2. moi on June 21, 2007 10:11 am

    Hind– I tend to disagree that the conflict in the Occupied Territories is about religion or based on extremist religious views. It’s more about land, power, and strategic interests than anything else. Thanks for your input.

  3. Global Voices Online » Palestine: A Classic Case of Divide and Rule? on June 23, 2007 3:30 pm

    […] My Occupied Territory also thinks it is a classic case of divide and rule, with the media playing along: One of my favorite things to do is ‘watch’ the media after a certain event and see how the creative minds start playing on words. With the recent turmoil in the Occupied Territories, the ‘buzz words’ are all too common. From ‘Hamastan’ to ‘Fatahland’ to ‘West Bank First’, when the word comes out, the rest of the media latch on to it and forget about every other word in the dictionary. By now you’ve probably heard most of them. By now you realize that most of them don’t make sense and are being used to sensationalize the news more than anything else. In my view, the way the media plays on this terminology, especially with regards to the conflict in Gaza and the West Bank, only serves to create more tensions and play on the divisions that have resulted from the recent events. And that’s just the media. […] […]

  4. falasteenyia on July 8, 2007 1:59 pm

    great post! and yes, im sick of the whole hamasastan thing too…even the way those witty local news people pronounce it all: ‘fata’ and ‘hum-ASS’

Name

Email (will not be published)

Website

Speak your mind

Candy Shop free xxx buy online pharmacy cialis soft tabs viagra alternative herbal supplement viagra soft tabs uk where to buy cialis online natural substitutes for levitra Niki Dominick bangbros lesbian porn HOT LATINA BABES hidden goods simony lesbian porn flower teen mis fat booty old lady fuck videos femdom art teen sex rx drugs Triarese buy levitra cheap cialis cheap viagra cheapest lorazepam prices order tenuate visit your doctor online order forms for buying klipal buy oxazepam cheap canadian drugs natural xanax substitute vitamins herbs cheapest diazepam in uk cheap diazepam diazepam does valium work for women canada online pharmacy tramadol buy zyban oils for female viagra levitra cheap cheap cialis soft tabs online buy cheap generic cialis ordering viagra online levitra versus viagra soft tabs online levitra mail order levitra herbal levitra for woman buy viagra soft tabs order viagra soft tabs ordering propecia online