I present Kobe v Iverson...
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Some of the best news I've heard all year
After 16 weeks in detention, the BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston has been released from detention by his kidnappers. The journalist was released as a result of negotiations between the Palestinian Hamas, who are in control of the Gaza Strip, and his captors, another Palestinian Islamist movement called 'the Army of Islam'.
In my view, Hamas form the bulk of the legitimate government of Palestine (although there is no Palestinian state). They had a decisive victory in elections in January 2006. The EU declared these elections to be free and fair. Hamas went on to form a national unity government with Fatah in March 2007.
However, despite all of this, the so-called 'international community' has refused to deal with Hamas. The EU, the US, and Israel all favour Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who was the Palestinian President, and have marginalised Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who was the Palestinian Prime Minister. The political system in Palestine is semi-presidentialism, whereby power is divided between a president and a prime minister who is answerable to a parliamentary assembly. A friend and fellow blogger is writing his thesis on semi-presidentialism in Palestine.
In any case, this fragile set-up between Hamas and Fatah continued for a while despite the fact that many powerful external actors would only speak to Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, instead of dealing with the government as a whole. Indeed, Israel attempted to blow up Hamas members of government in the Gaza Strip at every opportunity. Eventually, relations between these partners in the Palestinian government have broken down.
The current situation is that, following fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas have now taken control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah are in control of the West Bank. As can be seen from the map, both territories are entirely separate (although the map does not show the extent to which Israel has encroached into the West Bank so that it has now shrunk significantly in size). Mahmoud Abbas has declared that Haniyeh is dismissed as Prime Minister, but Haniyeh and his Hamas colleagues have refused to accept this. But there is an evident consensus throughout much of the mainstream media and the major actors of the international political establishment that it is Fatah who are legitimate. Abbas is still recognised as the Palestinian President, whereas Haniyeh is described as a terrorist.
This is the background to Johnston's release. Having taken over Gaza, Hamas are probably hoping that they will gain some credit for freeing Johnston. But they surely realise that the situation is unlikely to change to any significant extent. The main external players with regard to the issue of Palestine are known as the quartet: the US, the EU, the UN and Russia. Although Russia has made some attempts to gain more recognition for the Hamas government, the other three legs of the quartet are steadfastly anti-Hamas. This amounts to backing up Israel's position.
As I said, for me Hamas are the legitimate representatives of the Palestinians. Despite the fact that I have plenty of problems with the group, I reckon that the only practical, rational course of action to any man, woman or child in the occupied Palestinian territories (particularly in Gaza) is to support Hamas. But I reckon that Hamas will continue to be isolated, despite a BBC report suggesting that there may be the potential for a change in attitudes to Hamas - but then, I tend to be pretty pessimistic about these things.
The Army of Islam group that had been holding Johnston is also one of the groups responsible for the kidnap of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. It was following Shalit's kidnapping that Israel intensified its targeting of Hamas - an Israeli helicopter fired two rockets into the home of Ismail Haniyeh a week later. The fate of this young soldier is a key issue for Israel. It is awful to think of the 19 year old soldier - who was injured during the kidnapping - being held by kidnappers for over a year. However, at least he was a military target, whereas Alan Johnston is a civilian. Meanwhile, about 800 Palestinians are being held in Israeli 'administrative detention' - in other words, being held without being charged with any crime.
Certainly the Israel state considers itself at war with Hamas - in yet another of its frequent extrajudicial executions, Israel killed at least six Hamas members the night after Johnston's release. Yet one of its three stated reasons for refusing to deal with Hamas is that Hamas refuses to renounce violence. The mind boggles...
Free at last
In my view, Hamas form the bulk of the legitimate government of Palestine (although there is no Palestinian state). They had a decisive victory in elections in January 2006. The EU declared these elections to be free and fair. Hamas went on to form a national unity government with Fatah in March 2007.
However, despite all of this, the so-called 'international community' has refused to deal with Hamas. The EU, the US, and Israel all favour Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who was the Palestinian President, and have marginalised Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who was the Palestinian Prime Minister. The political system in Palestine is semi-presidentialism, whereby power is divided between a president and a prime minister who is answerable to a parliamentary assembly. A friend and fellow blogger is writing his thesis on semi-presidentialism in Palestine.
In any case, this fragile set-up between Hamas and Fatah continued for a while despite the fact that many powerful external actors would only speak to Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, instead of dealing with the government as a whole. Indeed, Israel attempted to blow up Hamas members of government in the Gaza Strip at every opportunity. Eventually, relations between these partners in the Palestinian government have broken down.
Hamas politician Khalil al-Hayya
Israel bombed his home, killing his wife and six of his family
The current situation is that, following fighting between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas have now taken control of the Gaza Strip and Fatah are in control of the West Bank. As can be seen from the map, both territories are entirely separate (although the map does not show the extent to which Israel has encroached into the West Bank so that it has now shrunk significantly in size). Mahmoud Abbas has declared that Haniyeh is dismissed as Prime Minister, but Haniyeh and his Hamas colleagues have refused to accept this. But there is an evident consensus throughout much of the mainstream media and the major actors of the international political establishment that it is Fatah who are legitimate. Abbas is still recognised as the Palestinian President, whereas Haniyeh is described as a terrorist.
This is the background to Johnston's release. Having taken over Gaza, Hamas are probably hoping that they will gain some credit for freeing Johnston. But they surely realise that the situation is unlikely to change to any significant extent. The main external players with regard to the issue of Palestine are known as the quartet: the US, the EU, the UN and Russia. Although Russia has made some attempts to gain more recognition for the Hamas government, the other three legs of the quartet are steadfastly anti-Hamas. This amounts to backing up Israel's position.
As I said, for me Hamas are the legitimate representatives of the Palestinians. Despite the fact that I have plenty of problems with the group, I reckon that the only practical, rational course of action to any man, woman or child in the occupied Palestinian territories (particularly in Gaza) is to support Hamas. But I reckon that Hamas will continue to be isolated, despite a BBC report suggesting that there may be the potential for a change in attitudes to Hamas - but then, I tend to be pretty pessimistic about these things.
The Army of Islam group that had been holding Johnston is also one of the groups responsible for the kidnap of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. It was following Shalit's kidnapping that Israel intensified its targeting of Hamas - an Israeli helicopter fired two rockets into the home of Ismail Haniyeh a week later. The fate of this young soldier is a key issue for Israel. It is awful to think of the 19 year old soldier - who was injured during the kidnapping - being held by kidnappers for over a year. However, at least he was a military target, whereas Alan Johnston is a civilian. Meanwhile, about 800 Palestinians are being held in Israeli 'administrative detention' - in other words, being held without being charged with any crime.
The young Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit
Certainly the Israel state considers itself at war with Hamas - in yet another of its frequent extrajudicial executions, Israel killed at least six Hamas members the night after Johnston's release. Yet one of its three stated reasons for refusing to deal with Hamas is that Hamas refuses to renounce violence. The mind boggles...
Sunday, July 01, 2007
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