Ayoon Wa Azan (The Palestinians are playing with fire)

The relationship between President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was never truly warm. But it was a positive working relationship under very bad circumstances. The real dispute is between Dr. Fayyad and Fatah’s leadership, as we have seen from the attitudes of the Revolutionary Council on the prime minister. Salam Fayyad is not my cousin, and there is no relationship between us outside the context of the Palestinian cause. However, I believe that he is better than any particular member of the Fatah leadership (beneath Abu Mazen) and better than them all together. He is also better than any Hamas prime minister who may be slated to succeed him in an attempt to restore national unity. Fayyad took office as prime minister in 2007, after Hamas’s takeover of the Gaza Strip. He fought corruption and chaos, and sought to build the institutions for the future Palestinian state. He worked to impose the rule of law, transparency, and accountability in the operations of the state’s institutions, and Fayyadism became synonymous to competency and productivity, and not empty rhetoric. Salam Fayyad is the acceptable face of Palestinian politics around the world. Donor countries trust him, and know that the aid they provide will not go to the pockets of senior officials. Arab and international aid to the Palestinians has decreased gradually, amid an ongoing global financial crisis. Israel, for its part, often delays transferring the taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Despite this, some Fatah leaders have opposed austerity measures as though they have any better alternatives, and blamed the prime minister for the economic crisis when his presence in office has prevented things from deteriorating further. Indeed, if the premiership were to be left to those leaders, perhaps all aid would have been suspended. The Palestinian prime minister was able to have the budget approved before he tendered his resignation. I will wait and see what kind of budget his predecessor will come out with, if Abu Mazen and Fayyad do not reach an agreement to cancel his resignation. Several commentaries said the crisis dated back to early March, when Finance Minister Nabil Kassis said he would resign. It seems that Salam Fayyad accepted his resignation, although Abu Mazen had asked him to reject it. Nabil Kassis, like President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, is above board for me. I knew him as we went together to the American University of Beirut (AUB), and so did Salam Fayyad. Kassis is nothing short of a genius with a PhD in nuclear physics from the United States – while the prime minister holds a PhD in economics from the United States as well. Such figures reassure the West, to the extent of knowing that it is dealing with highly qualified Palestinians. They also deprive the Israeli racist, terrorist government from the chance to accuse the leaders of the Palestinian Authority of terrorism. When Barack Obama visited occupied Palestine, I commented here in this column because the whole world followed the visit, and I repeated an old view of mine which is that there can be no peace with the Netanyahu government. The outcome of the visit reinforced my conviction. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry followed in the footsteps of President Obama, reiterating his call for the resumption of peace talks without calling for a freeze on settlement-building as Obama had done previously. What would the Palestinians negotiate over if settlement activity continued? All of Israel is occupied Palestinian land, and yet, the Palestinians have accepted a state on 22 percent of that land. Then they are asked to negotiate while Netanyahu’s government steals the rest. The only positive outcome of Kerry’s visit was his proposal to assist the Palestinian economy. But once again, I say that this position is based on trust in Prime Minister Salam Fayyad before anything else. I hope it is clear that I am not accusing the leaders of Fatah of anything, but simply comparing a prime minister known to and trusted by the Western world, with names that will be new to the donor countries. The latter will need time to test the new prime minister, and whether he is as qualified and upstanding as Salam Fayyad. On the other hand, the oddest thing I read was that leaders in Fatah said Salam Fayyad’s departure would facilitate the formation of a national unity government with Hamas. This is absurd because Hamas had split before Salam Fayyad assumed his post. Indeed, the dispute was between Fatah and Hamas, and not with Salam Fayyad. Hama seems to have contented itself with an Islamic “emirate” in Gaza out of its struggle, and continues to place this concern above the Palestinian cause, with or without Salam Fayyad in office. I believe Fatah and Hamas leaders are playing with fire, which may burn not just their fingers, but also the patient people. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.