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Palestinian resistance groups' political and diplomatic performance

August 4, 2014 at 10:15 am

The Palestinian resistance groups have succeeded in establishing new rules for their game with the Israeli enemy. What has become clearer are not only the Israeli casualties, which are significantly greater than the previous wars in 2008 and 2012, but also the noticeable political and diplomatic performance throughout this war.

Aside from the military aspects of the war that Israel is waging in Gaza, one must note the Palestinian resistance performance on the political and diplomatic fronts, for it is no less aggressive. The Palestinians are playing this game with intelligence and precision in light of the difficult conditions in the region, which seek to suffocate legitimate resistance internally and externally. Preliminary observations suggest that the resistance groups’ diplomacy and political activity has, like their military performance, surprised everyone, including the Israelis and their allies.

The Palestinians in Gaza have done this by working to provide themselves with diplomatic and political cover. This has been achieved despite their isolation and lack of access to the rest of the Arab world and regional parties, by emphasising the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people. They have insisted that these demands must be considered in any negotiation process regardless of any intermediary’s affiliations and wider agendas.

It is quite clear that the resistance is well aware of its own strengths and weaknesses as well as the Israelis’; there has been no exaggeration or underestimation. The Palestinians did not violate the 2012 truce agreement, nor did they initiate the war. Israel provoked this current aggression for political and internal reasons. As such, all blame has been removed from the Palestinian resistance and placed instead on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, it seems, will pay the price for his folly and recklessness.

Despite the resistance groups’ rejection of the Egyptian ceasefire initiative, which is entirely justified, they remain entirely open to Cairo. In fact, Hamas’s senior official in Cairo, Mousa Abu Marzook, is still in Egypt and in communication with the relevant Egyptian officials who are working to manage the Gaza crisis.

It is also useful to note that the Palestinian resistance has not been drawn into Egypt’s media war despite its “Zionisation” and the pro-Israel affiliations of those who support it and incite public hostility towards Gaza. It appears as though this media war was created deliberately to distract the resistance from its main task; that is, to draw it into a secondary and less important fringe conflict, one that seeks to justify the demonisation of the Palestinian people amongst Egyptians.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the gradual and intelligent developments in Palestinian diplomatic and political performance has been based in part on the military gains and events on the ground. By gains I mean the losses in the enemy’s ranks despite the asymmetric military capabilities and weapons available to the two parties.

It is natural that the demands of the Palestinian resistance have changed to reflect this new reality in order to achieve their legitimate goals. This explains Hamas’s rejection of the Egyptian initiative because, in truth, it ignored many of the people’s demands.

The resistance has avoided falling into the trap of political isolation, which was being imposed on it. Palestinian political leaders made a point of communicating with and visiting countries across the region, such as Tunisia, Kuwait, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This ensured that the resistance groups did not have to depend solely on themselves and enabled them to break down distrust by gaining the confidence of some Arab and regional parties; at the very least, hostility was neutralised. The groups also succeeded in providing an umbrella for diplomatic understanding of their demands and a way out of the crisis.

There is no obvious political vanity amongst the resistance groups after their surprising military performance and strong showing; they have worked in a clear and calculated manner. Such restraint illustrates the clarity of the collective thought of Palestinian political leaders and points to the possibility that they will achieve many of the people’s demands.

However, two shortcomings need to be addressed as soon as possible. We need to expand the resistance groups’ diplomatic umbrella beyond the regional framework into the international arena. It is necessary to communicate with international forces and blocs which may not support the Palestinians specifically but at least do not offer overt support for Israeli interests. Countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as bodies like the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and others, can put pressure on the international community to accept Palestinian demands and isolate Israel further. The global awakening of pro-Palestinian activism and support should also be built upon. The international condemnation of Israeli massacres of women and children is growing daily.

The Palestinian resistance has succeeded because of the intelligence of its leaders and the steadfastness of its fighters. They have succeeded in bringing the Palestinian issue back to the forefront of the world’s issues and this constitutes a major blow to Israel and its allies, not least in the Arab world, who have failed miserably in their attempts to stifle legitimate resistance.

Translated from Al Resalah newspaper, 30 July, 2014

 

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