Who will impose the vision; Abbas or the people?

There is a legendary story about a war between two tribes, after which the victorious tribe enslaved and raped the women of the losers. Only one woman was able to fight off her would-be rapist and kill him. She dragged his body back to her home and kept it there. When the captive women met to figure out how to escape from their predicament and explain to their husbands what had happened to them, this woman told everyone proudly how she fought off the soldier and how she was the only one untouched by a rapist’s hands. The other women killed her so that there would be no one who was not raped, making them all equal in the eyes of society and not prone to being asked why they did not do the same as that woman who fought against the rapist.

This story reminds me of what Abbas and his various forces are doing to the Palestinian people, who represent the woman who managed to kill those trying to violate her. Abbas is trying to kill all the Palestinians, just as the other women did to the untouched woman. He wants every Palestinian to follow his path and will not allow anyone to claim the honour of perseverance and resisting against the Israeli project. He wants the Palestinian masses to admit that all options other than that of conceding 78 per cent of historical Palestine to the Israeli occupation and establishing relations with the occupation as if it were a cooperative, friendly neighbour, are off limits.

The Palestinian people reject Mahmoud Abbas’s approach, but it is the only approach being heard about. He does not want to hear about anything else; this was made clear by the former Minister of Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Habbash, during his Friday sermon. He also said that Abbas will move forward with his policy and does not need any other forces or factions. Unfortunately, there were many before Habbash who expressed this position and who attracted the attention of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which issued a statement calling on Abbas to clarify his position.

There are many examples of such an approach, the most recent of which was when Abbas went to the latest negotiations brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry which lasted 9 months and failed. His decision to engage in the talks alone was in total disregard of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s position to reject them. Another example can be seen in the Palestinian project proposal submitted to the UN Security Council without consulting with any of the factions or forces; they actually found out about the proposal from media outlets and social networking sites. Even proposed amendments, which were said to have been made after criticism was directed at the project, were also made without any consultation.

This is how Abbas manages Palestinian affairs and whenever any of the forces considered to be under the PLO umbrella happen to object in order to remove any blame from themselves, albeit without taking any real position, it is considered to be an influential factor on Abbas’s policy of exclusion and monopoly. The president wants to drag all the Palestinians into his corner and impose his policies and a fait accompli about all matters.

This leadership method is dated and no longer suitable for Palestine, even if it suits some Arab or other states; they are countries with their own sovereignty and independence while we are still under occupation. Mahmoud Abbas wants to taint everyone so that everyone is equal to him and nobody is better. He now wants to get rid of everyone, figuratively or literally, just as the raped women got rid of the woman who fought off her attacker; he has conceded to the Israelis and he wants everyone else to concede too. He does not want resistance and wants to get rid of it under the pretext of having one government and one tool. To do this he cooperates with the Israeli occupation, and now has a hand in the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which he believes will push the Palestinians there to abandon resistance.

Abbas has been very explicit about his position and has no shame about what he is saying. He even employs spokespeople to repeat his words. The question now is simple: after such frankness and clarity, will we find a Palestinian position that will put an end to his monopoly, exclusion and dictatorship?

Nowadays we are most in need of employing the policy of one position, one goal and one means. We need unity and must end the internal division, which really started after the signing of the Oslo Accords. Will Abbas be convinced by unity based on partnership, or will he drag the Palestinian masses into his project? We need a concrete answer soon.

Translated from Al Resalah newspaper, 29 December, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.