“Hamas” between liquidation and settlement

Israel misled the world when it announced that it was about to uproot Hamas. Those who believed it, and those who doubted it, until a semblance of consensus crystallized on the impossibility of liquidation and the inevitability of going to a settlement.

The settlement in which Hamas is being tamed to engage is the one that Fatah, i.e. the PLO, preceded it to, according to internationally agreed upon American conditions, including what remained of the Soviet Union at the time.

The settlement that began in Madrid and matured in Oslo collapsed, and its rope was cut off halfway, as it gave birth to an incompletely developed baby, the Palestinian National Authority, and the word patriotism is merely a Palestinian insertion into the term.

In the first part of the settlement process, influential international actors intervened to make it a prelude to the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict, starting with its Palestinian essence. As for the second part, no one intervened to save the project from collapse, and I mean effective and decisive intervention, since the major attempt made by President Bill Clinton at the end of his term, “Oslo” continued to collapse, leading to a state that was completely opposite to what was wanted from it. The Palestinians got a war instead of a state, and the region that expected a permanent and comprehensive peace entered into a state of war on multiple fronts until the matter reached where we are now. From the possibilities of expanding the war on Gaza, and what accompanies it in the West Bank and southern Lebanon, to a regional war, although it seems unlikely, it is not impossible.

The epicenter of the earthquake now is Gaza, the center of the armed resistance is “Hamas,” and the center of the threat of war on all fronts is Israel. As for America, the godfather of settlement when it was possible, and the godfather of its distance and impossibility, it is pursuing the ghosts that target it in the heart of its influence and is working on settlements that, if they prevent the spread of war, will not be achieved. Peace that does not herald any danger lurking in all its regions.

America's problem is that its challenges arise and are exacerbated from the heart of its area of influence, and their root is the superpower's inability or negligence in satisfying its allies, even with the minimum limits of what they demand and deserve.

America, in the midst of the ongoing Gaza war, has written a story and imposed it as a topic of discussion and movement on the entire world, and its title is The Day After. This raises several questions; all of them are unanswerable, because the answer depends on the unknown, and what will happen the day before the war stops, what will the situation of Israel be, and what is the situation of Hamas, and it is the one who deserves to research its options after the war ends, so that the Palestinians will face the challenges that follow, which are the largest, most difficult and most urgent of all.

When Hamas survives the radical liquidation that Israel wanted and sought, this does not mean that it has moved from the position of the major faction to the position of the established leader in the Palestinian affairs. Whether it was at the height of its power or at a lower level, the matter will not be much different for it. It will not be a substitute for “Fatah” and the organization, but rather it will be a partner, and will not impose its program on the Palestinians. The matter is not decided by the strength of any party and its superiority over the other party, no matter how high the score in the polls, but rather it is decided by the need for the relationship with others to be based on partnership, not monopolization. .

This was the situation of the Palestinians from the beginning of their cause, even during the time of Fatah’s unparalleled influence, and the time of Yasser Arafat, on whom the Palestinians did not agree throughout his life. This is something that has been enshrined as a law, as no one has the ability to monopolize or have a life unless he is part of a whole.

What provided Hamas with an escape from radical liquidation was not its weapons, despite their undeniable importance in the military war, nor its rule of Gaza, which provided it with de facto legitimacy that made the whole world address it and deal with it, including Israel, but rather because it is an idea embraced by a large part. From the Palestinian people, and the idea cannot be filtered, as we have those who still celebrate ancient sites.

When America asks what should be done the next day, this is part of its global mission and the way it performs its roles, but what should be truly asked is the understanding of the Palestinians, “Hamas” the fighter and “Fatah” the negotiator, and the organization that is still qualified to bring the two sides together.

The Palestinians have not yet answered the question of the day after the cessation of the war, even though they need the answer the most.