PALESTINIAN UNITY~ABBAS VS HAMAS

Palestinian Unity between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas wants unity, and says:

link Dr. Mahmoud Zahhar, a political leader of the Hamas movement, stated that they would sign the Egyptian document for internal Palestinian unity should the Egyptian leadership provide guarantees to ensure a successful agreement.

Zahhar said that Hamas does not want to sign on unclear issues, and that Egypt should provide clarifications so that all aspects are durable to ensure a lasting unity deal.

He added that Hamas believes that the transitional period should be used to achieve all needed arrangements and reconciliation measures to guarantee national interests and unity.

“We are determined to achieve unity, we want to make sure the Egyptian document is clear for all of us”, Zahhar said, “We demanded Egypt to provide guarantees to implementing all reached deals”.

Zahhar also insists that Egypt invite Hamas leaders for talks on the measures to guarantee the future unity deal is solid and flawless.

And rightly so, they must be careful of signing an agreement that is unclear. The above is a fair request to iron out any misconceptions and clear up any vague areas regarding security and other things. Ok, that’s one side, now what about Fatah? Abbas is continually claiming he wants unity for the Palestinians and continually pointing the finger at Hamas as the ones against unity. So here is Abbas’ contribution towards unity for all parties:

Palestinian Security Forces arrested 14 members of the Hamas political party in the West Bank this Wednesday at dawn.

In Qalqilia, to the north of the West Bank, Mustafa Bader was apprehended. He has been repeatedly arrested by Palestinian security forces along with spending time in Israeli prison. Nael Nofal, Sa’id Jeidy, Abdul-Halim Al Basha and Freij Daoud were also detained in Qalqilia. They face arrest just one day after release from a Palestinian detention center.

In Allar near Qalqilia, security forces arrested Ahmad Taqatqa, Abada Taqatqa, Khalid Abdullah and Mujahid Shadid.

In the district of Ramallah, security forces arrested Moath Ziad Mashal, a journalist from Silwad village. Mashal has been arrested three times by the Israeli military, spending a combined total of five years in Israeli prisons. He has also been arrested once by Palestinian security forces despite his involvement with the Silwad local council.

In Hebron, security forces arrested Sheikh Mahmoud Al Hour, member of the Surif village council and Sheikh Mahmoud Al Asafra. Al Asafra serves as the Imam of Al Rahman Mosque in Beit Kahil.

Near the city of Jenin, security forces arrested Mohammad Fares Abu Obeid from Al Yamoun village.

The statement issued by Hamas also alleged that Fateh security forces still hold Hamas party members in detention, despite a Palestinian court order demanding their immediate release.

I think we can all see the real problems with “unity.” Perhaps when Abbas and his cohorts begin to respect the democratic mandate of all parties, including Hamas who won a majority in a free and democratic election. Then we may see some unity.