In this article in the June 2007 issue of Le Monde diplomatique, entitled, Behind the Fatah-Hamas confrontation, with the above subtitle, Alain Gresh (translated by Harry Forster), concluded:
The United States and Europe have unblocked aid to the Palestinian Authority after the eviction of Hamas. But since the Oslo peace process ground to a halt, the key question remains: Is Israel prepared to withdraw from the territory it occupied in 1967 and allow the creation of an independent Palestinian state?
There seems little ground for optimism.
There seems little ground for optimism, indeed.
Nothing but nothing has stopped Israel’s colonial machine on the West Bank for 40 years (60 years if you wish to include the ethnic cleansing of 1948), which seems to fire up its engine every time the world is distracted by trivial if violent events in Gaza or the West Bank. This time the US and Israel with the help of the UN and EU, have succeeded in fractionating the Palestinians politically. But to what end? The news organizations ground out speculations about the significance of Hamas-Fatah strife, while the only reality that remains consistent is Israel’s confiscation of more Palestinian land in its conquest to recreate King David’s Empire, an Israel from the Jordan River to the sea. The maps below inform about the dwindling of Palestinian land ownership, as Israel’s settlements continue to expand in number and size.
The term “settlements,” if you are not aware, is a euphemism for the Israeli only villages, towns, and cities built in the West Bank on Palestinian land during the past 40 years, presently inhabited by at least a half million Israelis, protected by Israeli defense forces, and which control roughly 42% of West Bank land. The distribution of these Israeli only communities, as shown in the map below, do not include so-called “illegal” settlements, of which another hundred are estimated to exist, also protected by Israeli soldiers.
So as articles such as this one continue to divert our attention, the reality always crops back up to shake our sensibilities. What is really happening? This article at least hints at the reality.
Regarding the Hamas-Fatah situation, the author concludes,
The Quartet has become “a body that was all but imposing sanctions on a freely elected government of a people under occupation as well as setting unattainable preconditions for dialogue”. It has not put any pressure on the Israeli government over settlements and the separation wall.
When an Israeli soldier was taken hostage in June 2006 the international community hardly noticed Israeli reprisals, including the destruction of a power station and civilian buildings and a military offensive that killed hundreds. When Hizbullah captured two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border last July western powers sat back for 33 days while Israeli forces damaged Lebanon and its infrastructure. These, we are told, are examples of Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself.
Meanwhile the steady spread of settlements makes the creation of a Palestinian state improbable.
Therefore, why should anyone bother reading about distracting events such as the Hamas-Fatah confrontation? The only constant over the years has been Israel’s incessant colonization. As Jeff Halper correctly advised several months ago, such events merely provide Israel with another opportunity to avoid peace initiatives by “managing the conflict.” And that is what it has done, this time with the help of the US, UN, EU, and Russia, the so-called Quartet.
But if you are interested in being distracted, the full article is here:
http://MondeDiplo.com/2007/07/05palestine>