Bruce Wolman writes:
Like a man who just survived his third near-death experience, Mahmoud Abbas headed back from his meeting with President Obama in Washington renewed in spirit. Ready to sew "In Obama We Trust" on the Palestinian national flag, a feisty Abbas announced Saturday, "The Palestinian security forces will strike an iron fist against anyone harming the interests of the Palestinian people." " He forgot to add, "as long as that anyone is a fellow Palestinian."
In the most violent clash since Abbas launched a crackdown on Hamas two years ago, two Hamas militants, a Hamas sympathizer and three Palestinian policemen died early Sunday after Palestinian police attempted to arrest two top Hamas operatives in Qalqiliya. The targets resisted arrest, hurling grenades which killed the three policemen. The Palestinian police then responded with an hours-long gun battle that ended with the two militants dead along with the owner of the house in which they were hiding.
According to the AP wire report from Ali Daraghmeh,
"The arrest raid underscored Abbas' determination to rein in militants as part of his obligations under the US-backed 'road map' peace plan.
The shootout came just three days after Abbas met at the White House with President Barack Obama and renewed a pledge to honor these commitments. The US has been training Abbas' elite forces to help him affirm his control of the West Bank and prepare for eventual statehood."
The situation in Qalqiliya is described as tense. "Women gathered near the scene heaped insults on policeman. Sporadic gunfire erupted in other areas of town, and police said the shots came from Hamas loyalists targeting officers, though there were no reports of injuries." Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said going after militants is key to one day securing a Palestinian state. "To build our country and our state, we need to have one authority, one gun, one law."
While many Mideast analysts have observed that reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah is a necessary condition for the realization of a Palestinian state, President Obama went out of his way in their joint press conference to remark that Abbas "has been under enormous pressure to bring about some sort of unity government and to negotiate with Hamas. And I am very impressed and appreciative of President Abbas' willingness to steadfastly insist that any unity government would have to recognize the principles that have been laid by the Quartet." This line could have been lifted directly from a Bush press conference. Is Obama also appreciative of Palestinian Authority attacks on Hamas this weekend?
Even before Sunday's events, Hamas had "accused Abbas' security forces of arresting 22 of its supporters in the West Bank over the weekend as part of a US-backed scheme designed to prevent the movement from extending its control beyond the Gaza strip."
Jerusalem Post correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh reported that a Hamas spokesman claimed Abbas presented Obama with a "detailed plan" for overthrowing the Hamas government in Gaza. The supposed plan calls for pressure on the Europeans and Russia to boycott Hamas, drawing to an end their recent meetings with Hamas representatives. Further, the Abbas plan argues "for tightening the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip with the hope that such a move would prompt Palestinians there to revolt against the Hamas government." So far, there is no independent verification of Hamas' claims, although it was reported Abbas came to Washington with a 5-page plan for Obama.
It's hard to believe that Abbas would so blatantly go against the interests of his own people, but it would be consistent with his behavior during the Israeli invasion of Gaza earlier this year. The Hamas spokesman said the plan proposed a deployment of UN troops in Gaza upon the collapse of the Hamas regime. Later Gaza would be handed back to Abbas' security forces.
Hamas also insisted that the Abbas plan "calls for waging a relentless war against Hamas' financial resources by closing down organizations that fund the movement and imprisoning individuals who carry out fund-raising on its behalf."
Toameh asked the PA about the Hamas allegations, and a PA official replied that "he did not know of any plan to topple the movement's regime…. These charges are in the context of Hamas' campaign of lies and fabrications."
If Hamas is right about Abbas' intentions, we should find out soon enough. If Obama follows this path, it will be seen on the Arab street as just another American attempt to divide-and-conquer the Middle East. It's unlikely the Palestinian people will willingly go along.
