There is no difference between Abbas and Dahlan

Palestinian media outlets are trying to make out that the meeting between Mohammad Dahlan and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is something unusual; as if the ex-Fatah official and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council has never met with Israel’s political and military officials before. If asked, Dahlan would not deny that he has met such people and even calls them his friends; so what is new about the Lieberman meeting in Paris two weeks ago that warrants such hype?

Those who believe that Dahlan’s approach is different to that of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are mistaken, especially with regards to major political issues and the goals sought by both. Dahlan and Abbas are students of the same school of thought. The only difference between the two is with regards to the methodology. We should not be concerned about their personal difference, which should be resolved as they see fit, perhaps through the procedures adopted by Fatah, with which both still claim to be affiliated; we should have nothing to do with it.

Abbas recognises Israel and believes that it has the right to exist and that the Palestinians should share their land with the Zionist state. He is even more generous than the 1947 UN partition plan, which granted the Palestinians 44 per cent of their own land. This plan was rejected due to its injustice to the Palestinian people, who are the rightful owners of the territory. Nevertheless, Abbas is willing to share Palestine with the Israelis and is ready to accept just 22 per cent of historic Palestine for an independent state.

Is Mohammed Dahlan’s political objective any different to that of Abbas? It is clear that Dahlan recognises Israel and its right to exist on Palestinian land. He also agrees about sharing the land with the occupier and has close relations with Israeli occupation officials. He has used these contacts to encourage some Gulf countries to establish secret and public links with Israel, creating a bridge for normalisation between them and the Israelis.

Mahmoud Abbas is against the resistance movement and considers it to be responsible for the setbacks of the Palestinian people. He has stressed that he will stop anyone who is thinking of resisting the occupation and took this one step further by agreeing to security cooperation and coordination with Israel. Abbas has transformed the Palestinian security agencies into servants and protectors of the Israelis; he has participated publically in the persecution of the resistance groups, sharing intelligence with Israel in a way that ensures the safety and security of illegal Jewish settlers and the occupation forces.

Dahlan did the same that Abbas is doing; he was the one who started the approach adopted by the PA president today. He was the first to ensure that the PA security agencies serve the interests of the occupation and uphold Israel’s security. Dahlan even allowed Israeli intelligence officers to interrogate members of the resistance and prisoners from 1996 onwards in the Preventative Security Force HQ, putting him at odds with the Qassam Brigades of Hamas. He continued to adopt this policy even after he left the security service, using his contacts and experience to serve Israel as well as several Arab and international intelligence agencies; this is still his role.

Thus there is no “news” about Dahlan meeting the Israeli foreign minister, for we already know what he is and what he does as he exploits the ongoing rift between Abbas and Hamas. To all the media outlets I say, calm down; Dahlan and Abbas are two sides of the same coin. They remind me of the Arabic proverb, “Don’t judge me, and I won’t judge you; we are in the same boat.”

Translated from Al Resalah newspaper, 5 January, 2015

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