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<h1 class="title" id="page-title">PA parrots Israeli claims on Gaza
attack </h1>
<div class="submitted">
<span property="dc:date dc:created"
content="2014-07-22T20:57:18+00:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime"
rel="sioc:has_creator">Submitted by <span class="username"
xml:lang="" about="/users/jalal-abukhater"
typeof="sioc:UserAccount" property="foaf:name" datatype="">Jalal
Abukhater</span> on Tue, 07/22/2014 - 20:57<br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/pa-parrots-israeli-claims-gaza-attack">http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/pa-parrots-israeli-claims-gaza-attack</a></small></small></b><br>
</span> </div>
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media-element file-full" style="width:618px;"><br>
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<p>Last week, I wrote about how the <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/jalal-abukhater/palestinian-authority-stands-way-palestinian-struggle">Palestinian
Authority stands in the way of the Palestinian struggle</a>.
The PA isn’t helpless in the face of the atrocities being
committed in Gaza, I argued; rather it has chosen to do nothing.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, if we consider the latest Israeli actions in Gaza
as a very final test for the PA, I believe it can easily be said
that it has failed in every possible respect.</p>
<p>As death and destruction in Gaza reach new heights, the
reactions of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority sounds
like something out of a farce. A considerable number of major PA
officials in the occupied West Bank and abroad, including the
president himself, seem to be rallying against the desire of
Palestinians facing the daily terror in Gaza.</p>
<p>Officials have also been making plenty of statements to
Palestinians locally and foreign envoys that serve to blame
Hamas and score political points, rather than address the
heinous crimes Israel is committing and has been committing
since it imposed the siege on Gaza.</p>
<p>For example, in an <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIcFNqEwWh0">interview</a>
on 11 July with al-Mayadeen TV, the PA President Mahmoud Abbas
accused Hamas of being “merchants of war” and called on them to
accept the Egyptian ceasefire initiative and proceed with
political negotiations later. </p>
<p>Five days later, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, director-general of the PA
presidency and member of the Fatah Central Council, <a
href="http://www.ajnad-news.com/site/ajnad/details.aspx?itemid=18876">commented</a>
on Hamas’s rejection of the Egyptian proposal. He accused Hamas
of serving regional agendas and “sacrificing Palestinian blood
in the service of a global Muslim Brotherhood plot.”</p>
<h2>Ludicrous</h2>
<p>Any rational political analyst following the situation in Gaza
with sufficient background knowledge on the siege and on Hamas
would know that Abdel Rahim’s claims were ludicrous.</p>
<p>Riyad al-Maliki, the PA’s foreign minister, has also reportedly
said<a
href="https://www.facebook.com/frans.timmermans/posts/760356067320588">,
in a conversation with Frans Timmermams</a>, the Dutch foreign
minister, that the current escalation in Gaza only serves
Hamas’s political interests. Abbas, Abdel Rahim, and al-Maliki’s
statements are only a sample of the rhetoric coming from the PA,
which blames Hamas for the escalation rather than addressing the
horrific daily reality in Gaza: the siege and closure of all
border crossings; the contaminated water system; the destroyed
basic infrastructure; the raging poverty and humanitarian crisis
that has been plaguing the Strip for years.</p>
<p>PA officials are echoing the Israeli government’s narrative,
putting the blame on Hamas for the high loss of civilian life in
Gaza and ignoring the reality imposed on the Strip. Mohammed
Omer, an award- winning journalist based in Gaza, has <a
href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-civilians-still-support-resistance-despite-heavy-toll-766547339">written
a report</a> which reflects a reality that Abbas and the PA
are trying to deny: there is popular support for the resistance
in Gaza. Omer writes, “The paradox of Gaza is that as the death
toll increases, so does the defiance of its people.” He quotes
sixty-six-year-old Amnah Odeh who said: “This situation cannot
continue, or return as it was even days ago – under Israel’s
eight-years-long siege – where life was equally, if not worse,
long-term.”</p>
<p>It goes without saying that Palestinians wish to see an end to
the bloodshed. But returning to the slow-death status quo does
not seem to be an option anymore.</p>
<p>If Abbas, as president of the PA, wishes to represent the
interest of Palestinians in Gaza, he wouldn’t be travelling to
Turkey and the Gulf, where he has urged governments to seek that
Hamas accepted the Egyptian proposal. <br>
</p>
<h2>Defeatist</h2>
<p>Hamas has indeed put forward five <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/exclusive-hamas-puts-forward-ceasefire-terms-amid-intense-mediation">realistic
and achievable ceasefire conditions</a>. Qatar and Turkey have
<a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.606130?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter">sponsored
an initiative</a> that has seen significant support in Gaza.
Yet, instead of backing those initiatives, the PA continues to
mobilize efforts against what Palestinians in Gaza think serve
them best.</p>
<p>People in Gaza want to see an immediate end to the bloodshed,
but not according to the defeatist conditions put forward by
Israel, Egypt and the PA leadership.</p>
<p>As I mentioned in my piece last week, the Palestinian Authority
is still capable of invoking the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) and seeking justice through
international law. The PA has always claimed to be pursuing that
objective. When Abbas condemned Hamas’s actions, he made sure to
declare: “We will only fight them [Israelis] with what they fear
most, international law.”</p>
<p>The PA has never been true to that statement yet.</p>
<p>The PA has been able to seek access to the ICC since 2012.</p>
<p>In the interim, there have been two Israeli offensives against
Gaza, thousands of new buildings have been constructed in
Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and hundreds of Israeli
human rights violations have been documented. Yet the PA refuses
to turn its words into actions.</p>
<p>The PA hasn’t been serious about the international law to which
it constantly refers. Its attitude towards the latest attack on
Gaza is inexcusable.</p>
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