Kim Bullimore
On September 13, Palestinian political leaders condemned Washington's refusal to lift its aid embargo against the Palestinian Authority (PA) after Hamas and Fatah, the two major Palestinian political parties, reached agreement on forming a "national unity" government. Palestinian refugee minister Atef Adwan told journalists that the US position "is totally biased and wants to impose conditions on the Palestinian people".
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Hanan Ashrawi told the September 12 Turkish Weekly: "Our aim is not to form a government that satisfies America or others; the world should deal positively with any Palestinian steps."
Ashrawi, who was elected to the PLC in January on the independent Third Way ticket, said she was astonished by US State Department spokesperson Tom Casey's announcement that Washington would refuse to deal with the proposed Palestinian coalition government unless it recognised Israel and renounced "violence".
As usual, no US official has demanded Israel renounce "violence" — or even abide by the 39-year-old UN resolutions calling on it to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories it seized in 1967.
Earlier that day, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who is the chairperson of Fatah, told a Ramallah media conference that PA Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, of the Hamas party, would head the formation of the new Hamas-Fatah coalition government.
Speaking in Hebrew, Ghazi Hamad, a spokesperson for the Hamas-led PA government, told Israeli Army Radio on September 11, that Hamas — which won a majority in January's PLC elections, but which is categorised by Israel and the US as a "terrorist organisation" — had "no problem" with the proposed new PA coalition government holding peace talks with Israel. However, he expressed doubt that Israel would make the necessary concessions for a settlement giving the Palestinians an independent state ruling over the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Following the formation of the Hamas-led PA government after January's PLC elections, the US and the European Union cut off all aid to the PA, and Israel has refused to hand over to the PA the taxes its occupation administration collects from Palestinians.
As a result, the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been plunged into a severe economic crisis with the Hamas-led government unable to pay full salaries to its 165,000 workers for the past six months.
On September 2, tens of thousands PA workers, including more than 40,000 teachers went on strike to protest the Western economic blockade. Also joining the strike were health-care transport workers.
The strike, although not aimed directly at the Hamas-led PA, has increased the pressure on it to compromise with Abbas, who has insisted that any new PA government must "respect" all the agreements signed between the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel.
Fatah, particularly in the West Bank, played a key role in organising the strike by PA workers, hoping that the anger of PA employees would be directed at Hamas.
In the wake of its unexpected January election victory, Hamas had offered to form a "national unity" government, but this offer was rejected by the Fatah leadership.
Abbas has repeatedly stated that Fatah would only form a coalition government with Hamas if Hamas accepted the "peace initiative" issued in a League of Arab States summit held in Beirut in 2002, which proposes the establishment of "normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace" settlement.
Israel would be required to abide by UN Security Council resolutions adopted since 1967 demanding its withdrawal from the Palestinian territories it seized in 1967. Israel, however, rejected the plan outright in 2002.
On September 11, Abbas announced that Hamas and Fatah had reached an agreement on the formation of a coalition government.
Abbas and Fatah are keen to see a coalition government in place before any Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza by Palestinian militants in early July, as such a release would boost the popularity of Hamas. If such a prisoner exchange were to happen after the announcement and formalisation of a coalition government, Fatah could also claim some credit for it.
Israel has unsuccessfully tried to force the release of its captured soldier through waging war on Gaza that has cost the lives of over 260 Palestinians. It also arrested 33 PLC members, including three cabinet ministers, paralysing the functioning of the Palestinian parliament.
On September 12, an Israeli military judge ordered the release of the arrested Palestinian MPs. The Israeli government, which plans to try the MPs as "terrorists", immediately announced it would appeal the judge's order.
Military judge Major Ronen Atzmon ordered the Hamas MPs released on the grounds that the timing of their arrests demonstrated that they did not pose a "terrorist" threat to Israel. He noted that the Israeli government had permitted Hamas supporters to run as candidates in January's Palestinian elections and then to exercise their legislative roles for several months before arresting them.
"Speculation in the Palestinian and Israeli camps", the September 12 Melbourne Age reported, "suggests the court's decision could be part of a manoeuvre to break the deadlock in behind-the-scenes negotiations, but both governments deny this."