Hawatmeh reveals that some Palestinian and regional parties disable the reconciliation and encourage the division

Interview – In an interview with Al-Quds newspaper (23 May 2012), Nayef Hawatmeh, secretary general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, revealed that some Palestinian and regional forces disable the reconciliation and encourage the division which will lead to the loss of national rights. Hence, we must return to the people and start elections including the presidency election, legislative and national elections based on the principles of the proportional representation.

Hawatmeh warned that there are many voices calling for ignoring the Gaza Strip, considering it a financial, political and social burden. In contrast, there are in the Gaza Strip, voices calling for ignoring the West Bank, imagining the possibility of building an Emirate in the Gaza Strip. “The division is the most dangerous issue which may lead to the somalization of the Palestinian territories and the loss of the national Palestinian rights. There are powers inside Hamas and Fatah who do not want the reconciliation to take its course because of their narrow factional and selfish interests. There are also Arab and regional powers feeding and funding the division for serving their own interests. Therefore, I call for speeding up the implementation of the reconciliation agreement and enacting a unified electoral law for the national and legislative council and the local and public bodies according to the full proportional representation which enables the rebuilding of national partnership based on national and democratic bases among all the components of the Palestinian people.

More than two years have passed since the signing of the agreement of reconciliation, but the division is still existent. Who is responsible for disabling the reconciliation agreement?

The 4 May 2011 agreement in Cairo is the fourth one for ending the division and rebuilding the national unity on new democratic rules. That is to say, the return to people and engaging in legislative and presidential elections, in addition to the elections of the National Council, the unified parliament of the Palestinian people inside the Palestinian territories and in the diaspora according to the proportional representation. We are one people and we must be ruled by one law.

We hoped 4 May agreement would go into effect as soon as possible, but we faced many problems which can be summarized as follows:

There are figures and powers inside Fatah and Hamas who do not want this agreement to take its course because the end of the division and the participation with elections based on full proportional representation will build a wide and national partnership and lead to the democratization of all the institutions of the society and the Palestinian Authority, as well as the Palestine liberation organization. These figures and powers inside Fatah and Hamas work only for their narrow individual and factional interests. We should realize what happened in the Palestinian society during the last decade and earlier, where many social and political classes emerged by virtue of the state of corruption and the illicit enrichment of some old leaders, especially in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Hawatmah added, “we have tried our best to solve the problematic issues in the meeting of 22 January 2012 in Cairo by unifying the unions and syndicates under laws securing the partnership of all shades. We held meetings in 22 December 2011 in order to put operational plans, but we were surprised by partial titles agreed upon by Hamas and Fatah to end the division. These titles did not live up to the level of ending the division and rebuilding the national unity. We remained running in the first box. We also held a new session to the supreme committee on 23 February 2012 to resolve the major issues such as the unified political program, the government of the national unity, the election law of the full proportional representation and the investment of the current situation to return to the Security Council and the United Nation to apply for the statehood of Palestine State on the borders of 4 June 1967 with Jerusalem its capital to solve the problem of the political and legal frame of the negotiations which are taking place without an international reference.

With regard to the status of the PLO, Hawatmeh Said, “The Palestinian people are large in number. We are brave. We have great experience in the struggle for obtaining our right of self-determination and building the independent state on the borders of 4 June 1967 with Jerusalem its capital. We have built the national Palestinian entity and obtained international and regional recognitions.”

On the other hand, Hawatmeh warned of the promotion of building an Emirate for Hamas. He said, “No political power in the Gaza Strip is able to control the enclave and build an emirate. The Gaza Strip is under a land, a sea and air siege. It is a society without resources. Therefore, whoever looks forward to make it technically developed like Qatar, Hong Kong, Singapore or Taiwan is mistaken. Those who signed Oslo Accord repeatedly announced that they would make the West Bank and the Gaza Strip similar to the aforementioned states. But what happened? The social, economic, cultural and political level of life deteriorated.

Hamas tried to spread its ideas. It clashed with the people and with many powers that refuse imposing a solution under the name of Islam. Hamas did not offer an attractive model in the Gaza Strip. It offered a closed model. The situation cannot remain as it is. So, we signed 4 plans for ending the division. The last of which was on 4 May.

We are confident that we will be able to reorganize the Palestinian house, especially the geographic and demographic unity between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the basis of a unified political program that guarantees a popular and national partnership.

DFLP – Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine