By Basel Tarawneh
Albawaba.com – Hebron
Veteran Fateh leader Abbas Zaki has become something of an institution in the Palestinian struggle for justice. The blunt member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Central Committee of the Fateh Movement is known for his daring confrontations over slackness within the Palestinian Authority. Furthermore, Zaki is considered to have held firmly to his positions, and to have remained close to the pulse of Palestinian life on the street.
Zaki spoke to Albawaba.com from Hebron about the serious situation of the Palestinians and the region as a whole.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
Q. How do you assess the present political and security situation in light of the escalating Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people?
A. I think we face the most serious and difficult of complications, particularly with the region currently witnessing the resumption of Zionist activities ever since the Israeli extremists, led by Sharon, assumed power. This is in addition to the lack of tangible Arab actions. Two Arab summit conferences were held in Cairo and Amman amid the massacres of our people, without any action from the Arabs to convince Israel that there is another side to the equation.
Therefore, the region is now on the edge of real dangers and surprises, which may not be pleasant in light of Israeli leaders' statements that go beyond the boundaries of Palestine.
Examples of these are the statements made by Zeifi, the transfer theorist, Sharon himself, and Lieberman, who calls for a temporary reoccupation of the PA territories to destroy their infrastructure. This is in addition to Ovada Yosef, the spiritual leader of the important religious political party Shas who labeled Arabs as “vipers” whom God regrets creating and who should be wiped out with rockets in order to guarantee security for the settlers. This is pretty amusing, particularly if you remember how Iraqi missiles reached the center of Tel Aviv.
In reality, the Israelis do not understand the concepts of the age we live in, since their ideology is based on simple hatred and apartheid.
In practical terms, the region is facing real leadership, decision-making and even credibility crises. Under these circumstances, we are heading towards the unknown, because if Israel takes things back to square one, we’re afraid that we may enter a cycle of violence, killing and devastation that all Arabs, from the [Atlantic] Ocean to the [Arabian] Gulf, may not be able to avoid.
The situation is so complicated that it is not easy for any expert in the area to size up the regional situation, particularly given that the Israelis are not using their heads. It’s really too bad that the area is so far from achieving peace.
Q. Do you mean that the possibility of resuming the peace process is far off in the near and medium terms?
A. There’s no doubt that the Israelis want peace on their own terms, and according to their famous rejections -- the “No’s” -- which came to the surface during their latest meeting at Ofra settlement. These settlements have no international legitimacy, and the attitude of the United States has changed significantly under President George W. Bush.
For example, George Bush senior set the condition that the Israelis had to halt settlement activity before he approved any loan guarantees for them. But surprisingly, the current US president, his own son, welcomes the settlement activities and has given Sharon the green light to hold a cabinet meeting in one of them.
This is evidence of the upcoming status of the settlers. Basically, it is the status of colonies, because the expression “colony” is more precise than “settlement.”
There is a big difference between our understanding of peace, a peace that meets our aspirations and rights, and the Israeli stipulations. A real unified Palestinian effort and a clear decision can confront the Israelis and defeat Sharon. In this case, no future Israeli premier will be able to assume power unless he comes with a real peace plan, otherwise he’ll have to prepare ships to transport the Israelis out of the region.
It has become evident that all the Israeli leaders who aimed at solving the issue by force failed, and so I expect a bitter defeat for Sharon, similar to his defeat in Lebanon, and that of Dayan in the Battle of Karamah.
The Israelis should be convinced of the need to curb Sharon’s extremism, but this is not an easy task. The degree to which the Israelis retreat depends on the degree of Palestinian capability and power, along with Arab help.
Q. The Palestinian Intifada is approaching its ninth month -- do you think it has achieved anything in this period?
A. I don’t believe that it has achieved anything, except that it has reminded us that the peace charade was nothing but a myth, and that the shortcomings of this process have become clear. There is nothing of value in our homeland. The Israelis have confiscated everything and have even started to deal with our leadership as if they were slaves. The life of the Palestinian people has been confiscated and the condition of our lands is painful. Israelis can go anywhere and do anything they like, while the Palestinians have none of these rights.
To sum up, everything has been confiscated, and is subject to Israeli whims. Therefore, this Intifada is still like someone chiseling away at stone, working very hard and achieving very little. However, seven months have been enough to achieve a qualitative change in our lives in terms of unity, performance, achievements, and sending a message to the Israelis that killing 500 people does not mean killing the whole population.
Unfortunately, there hasn’t yet been unified leadership for the Intifada, or any coordinated effort throughout the homeland.
Frankly, the Intifada isn’t focused on a central issue such as geographic continuity [of a Palestinian state] or the abolition of the Israeli settlements. We should go back to our grand Intifada, when we used to focus on accurate timeframes and stages. There was a program for social security and family solidarity. Foodstuffs and flour sacks used to be left in front of houses for those who needed them. Our people are under siege, and anybody who has special privileges should not be considered one of them.
I think this Intifada has started to send the message that our people won’t surrender or accept oppression. If Israel thinks that the capitalists and influential figures within the PA can harm our people and undermine their rights, they’ll be mistaken, because our people read very well and ask themselves daily what they have offered to Palestine.
Sooner or later, our people will bring to justice the scum who are growing on the banks of this grand river of blood. Our people know who faces financial hardships, and who is playing around with money under the umbrella of a state of emergency.
This Intifada will continue and become more deeply rooted. It has actually served as a rescue vessel to cover up the shameful scandal of Oslo. So if the PA does not respond by setting up a program for struggle against Israel at the Intifada level, there will be a serious situation, since the nationalist and Islamist forces can’t be in one boat and the others in another boat.
There should an emergency economy, policy, and special morality during the state of emergency, but there should be no relaxation or ambiguous actions. In my opinion, we need to make great efforts during this period of our stumbling and cloudy vision, which we are witnessing at present. This has been due to the introversion of our Arab brothers, and the collapse of values and military might throughout the whole world.
I think we have been waiting too long for a real rebirth that will give meaning to the uprising of the people, the flow of blood, and the renewed Intifada.
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
