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FAQ on the Gaza crisisInstitute of Middle East Understanding (IMEU) 18 June 2007 I. Who are the key combatants in Gaza?
II. What is the Fatah party? Founded in 1957 by the late Yasser Arafat, Fatah is a secular political party whose goal is to establish a Palestinian state. In spite of Hamas' recent surge in popularity, Fatah remains the most powerful constituent organization within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority - the governing body in the occupied West Bank and Gaza - is a member of Fatah. Its members hold 42 out of the 132 seats within the Palestinian Legislative Council. There are two main security forces affiliated with Fatah:
III. What is the Hamas party? HAMAS or "Movement of Islamic Resistance" was founded in the Gaza Strip shortly after the outbreak of the first Palestinian intifada in December 1987. It was established by Palestinian members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization founded in the 1920s in Egypt, whose emergence in the Gaza Strip was initially welcomed by Israeli military authorities as an alternative to the PLO. Hamas is not a member organization of the PLO, and has opposed the Oslo accords. It initially treated the Palestinian Authority - a product of the accords - as illegitimate, and refused to participate in the first Palestinian Authority elections in 1996. However, it fielded candidates in municipal elections in January 2005, winning majorities on 28 of 84 town councils in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Hamas members also participated in elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council held in January 2006, although running under the banner of the "Change and Reform Party." The new party promised reforms of the Palestinian Authority and more steadfast support of Palestinian rights to freedom and independence. It did not, however, reiterate Hamas's goal of establishing an Islamic state in Palestine. In 2006, Change and Reform Party candidates took 74 of 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, formed a new Palestinian government. Two security organizations report to Hamas:
IV. What are the offshoot militias? Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (named after the thousands of Palestinians killed during the Al-Aqsa Intifada) - several thousand armed fighters, an offshoot of the Fatah party, many of whom work in the Preventative Security forces. Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades (named after a hero of Islamic resistance in Palestine) - the militia of Hamas, with about 15,000 members. V. What are they fighting about? Fundamentally, the struggle is over control of the apparatuses, and especially the security services, of the Palestinian Authority. Fatah has never reconciled itself to its January 2006 electoral rebuke, nor to Hamas's ascension to power. Fatah rebuffed early offers from Hamas to form a national unity government, and resisted placing security forces under the control of a Hamas minister of the interior. Fatah's resistance continued even after the appointment of a non-partisan interior minister under the national unity government formed earlier this year. These differences might have been worked out politically under normal circumstances. However, since Hamas formed a government in March, 2006, the entire Palestinian people - Fatah loyalists, Hamas loyalists, and independents - have been put under a grueling economic siege, by Israel, with the active support of the United States. The results of this siege have been catastrophic to the Palestinian economy and people's livelihoods. Numerous human rights organizations have sounded the alarm about its impact on the daily life of Palestinians. Under these pressure-cooker circumstances, political differences between Fatah and Hamas have spilled over into violence. VI. What conditions led up to the clashes? In addition to remaining under a 40-year occupation by Israeli military forces, Palestinians stopped receiving the overwhelming majority of financial aid required to sustain the population. Israel has openly refused to transfer international aid money and taxes - collected from and for Palestinians - to the Palestinian Authority. As a result, government workers (including security employees, teachers, and health workers) went unpaid for many months, the already-fragile private sector faced near collapse, and basic food supplies became increasingly scarce. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation has all but destroyed the majority of basic infrastructure especially in the densely populated and impoverished Gaza strip. Even water and electricity shortages became an ongoing fact of daily life. In an April 2007 survey commissioned by Oxfam International, half of Palestinian families surveyed reported losing over half their income in 2007. UNICEF has reported that since 1999, poverty among Palestinian children has tripled, reaching 70%, which means that they live on less than $2 a day. Israel retains complete control of Palestinian movement into and out of the West Bank and Gaza. Most Palestinians now refer to Gaza as the world's largest open-air prison. VII. What's the outcome of the recent clashes? As of June 17th, Hamas had taken control of Gaza while Fatah remained in control of most of the West Bank. Palestinian President Abbas had dissolved the unity government declaring a state of emergency. Abbas removed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh from his role as Prime Minister, appointing former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad as Prime Minister instead. VIII. Does President Abbas have the legal authority to dissolve the Hamas government and replace it with another government? Yes and no. The Palestinian Authority operates under the terms of an interim constitution called the "Basic Law" that was passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1997, and signed into law by then President Arafat in 2002. Under amendments to the law passed by the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2003, the president has the power to demand the resignation of the prime minister and his government. However, he may not appoint a new government without the approval of the Palestinian Legislative Council - which is currently dominated by Hamas. Moreover, until a new government has been approved, the old government is to continue in a care-taking role. The Basic Law also empowers the president to declare a "state of emergency" and to rule according to decree, although the extent of the president's emergency authority is limited, and would not extend to the formation of a new government. IX. What role has the US played in the current crisis? The US has defended Israel's crushing siege against the entire Palestinian people. This policy of trying to weaken Hamas is seen by many Palestinians as a punishment for their choice in last year's free and democratic Palestinian election. The United States has tried to prop up President Abbas' security forces by providing arms and training. U.S. officials have lauded President Abbas's dismissal of the Hamas government and attempt to create a new one, although, as noted above, the latter measure is illegal under prevailing law. It now appears that the U.S. and Israel will lift the embargo against the West Bank, where Fatah remains largely in control, while maintaining and perhaps tightening the siege against Gaza, now controlled by Hamas.
Australians for Palestine
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Briefing Paper No 45 |
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© 2007 Australians for Palestine