Al-Arabiya TV Interviews Hamas MP Al-Masri, Fatah’s Dahlan on Gaza
Dubai Al-Arabiya Television in Arabic at 1905 gmt on 16 June carries within its daily “Panorama” programme a 35-minute talk show on the “coup carried out by Hamas in Gaza Strip.” The programme, which is moderated by Anchorwoman Muntaha al-Ramahi, hosts Mushir al- Masri, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for Hamas Movement, via satellite from Cairo; and Muhammad Dahlan, adviser to the PNA president for national security affairs, via satellite from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Al-Ramahi begins by saying: “What will happen after Hamas Movement has militarily decided the situation in Gaza Strip – a development which was described by a senior Hamas official as the second liberation of the strip. Hamas has taken control of Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian [National] Authority [PNA] President responded by discharging the government of Isma’il Haniyah and forming an emergency government under Salam Fayyad. Hamas rejected the PNA president’s move and refused to recognize the emergency government. As a result, we have a government in the West Bank enjoying Arab and international support and a Hamas-controlled government in Gaza Strip suffering from international blockade and sanctions. The infighting has cast a dark shadow on the overall Palestinian situation, but the question remains: Until when Hamas Movement will endure the blockade and until when the inhabitants of Gaza Strip will remain patient if Israel cuts off electricity and water supplies and refuses to allow basic commodities into the strip? Did Hamas think about the consequences before deciding the situation militarily? The most important question is: What will happen to the Palestine question in light of the recent development, and what has happened to the dream of establishing an independent Palestinian state?”
Correspondent Ishaq al-Khasawinah adds: “The infighting in the Palestinian territories has produced what both far and near have avoided. A geographical, institutional, and political division has taken place. The problem is that the division has produced two authorities in Gaza Strip and the West Bank. What will happen to the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel after the Palestinian negotiator has lost control of part of the territories although the Arab countries have expressed support for PNA President Mahmud Abbas’s decisions. The new situation in the Palestinian territories will also affect the Israeli policy, especially since Israel has always alleged the absence of a Palestinian partner. Israel is also exploiting the new situation in Gaza Strip to express its security fears that new rocket attacks may be launched from the strip. The suffocating situation in Gaza Strip may force Hamas to offer security to Israel in return for allowing goods into Gaza Strip. The new situation will cause suffering for the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza Strip, with Hamas finding itself responsible for providing services and the basic needs for the strip’s inhabitants, including electricity, oil, and the basic commodities from Israel.”
Asked what Hamas will do if Israel cuts off water and electricity supplies from Gaza Strip, Al-Masri says that “Hamas Movement enjoys Palestinian political and popular legitimacy” and that “we briefed PNA President Abbas and the other parties on the security chaos spread by the lords of sedition and coup in the security apparatuses.” The Mecca agreement “calls for reformulating the security apparatuses on new national bases,” he says, adding that “the security plan, which was approved by the Palestinian Government, was foiled after ulema, imams, and mujahidin were executed in cold blood under the cover of some security headquarters.” Al-Masri says that “we used every diplomatic and political means to attain that goal, but they aborted the dialogue, the understandings, and the agreements in favour of their personal goals and the foreign agendas and tried to apply the creative chaos slogan, which the US secretary of state wants to impose.” Therefore, Hamas “was forced to take this step to solve the security problem in the Palestinian arena,” he says, adding that “Gaza Strip has enjoyed stability and order for the first time in years” and that “the Palestinian people have received the development happily.”
Al-Masri also says: “Today, we must achieve unity, reinforce the internal front, reformulate the security apparatuses on national bases, form a joint force, implement the security plan approved by the Palestinian Government, and enforce the law and order in the Palestinian arena. Today, our Palestinian people enjoy stability and order, and I believe that any political step that does not enjoy Palestinian consensus, like PNA President Abbas’ decision, is viewed as a political adventure which will not benefit PNA President Abbas, Fatah Movement, or any Palestinian party. Therefore, the only option is dialogue. Those, who believe they can lead the national project by wagering on foreign wills and applying decisions weaved in the United States, are mistaken.”
Al-Ramahi notes that Al-Masri has not responded to my question on how Hamas will provide food, which is not less important than security. After we listen to the following report, she says, “we will talk about several problems, including ways to pay the salaries of thousands of government servants and security personnel and to import basic commodities from Israel and Egypt.”
Correspondent Safa Dahi says that “the recent developments in Gaza Strip have created problems, which need to be solved,” adding that “here are 25,000 security personnel, 5,000 health employees in Gaza City alone, and 17,000 employees in the education sector” and that “the salaries of the government employees in Gaza Strip total $60 million.” He says that “Gaza Strip also needs electricity, fuel, food, and other basic needs, which used to pour into the strip from Israel and Egypt through the four crossing points, the lifelines of the strip.” Gaza consumes 197 megawatt of electricity, including 120 Megawatt from Israel, 60 Megawatt from a power station in Gaza City which operates with Israeli fuel, and 17 Megawatt from Egypt,” he says, adding that “Gaza Strip will lose most of its energy resources if Israel decides to stop its fuel exports to Gaza Strip.” He also says that “Israel exports 1.5 million litres of Kerosene, 9 million litres of diesel, 6,000 tonnes of gas to Gaza Strip,” wondering how “these problems can be solved?”
Asked if Hamas Movement has any plan to solve these problems, Al- Masri says that “technical teams at the Palestinian ministries and institutions coordinate with the Israeli occupation to secure the entry of all these humanitarian services into Gaza Strip.” He also says that “we have faced similar difficult circumstances in the Palestinian arena” and that “the Zionist enemy targeted the entire infrastructure, including the only power station in the strip.” Israel also threatened to cut off all humanitarian services, he says, adding that “the Israeli occupation will not take such a step lest it turns Gaza Strip into a time bomb.” Therefore, he says, “Hamas Movement or the Palestinian Government has no fears that such humanitarian services will be cut off.”
Al-Ramahi notes that Israel will at least tighten the noose around the strip, that the said technical teams were recognized by the international community, and that Hamas does not recognize the emergency government.
Responding, Al-Masri says that “when Hamas formed a government, the entire world imposed a suffocating blockade on the Palestinian people, but we managed to break parts of it.” Regarding the emergency government, he says, “I believe that although PNA President Abbas has the right to discharge the government and to declare a state of emergency, he has no right to form a new government without a vote of confidence from the Palestinian Legislative Council.”
Asked if the emergency government needs a vote of confidence, Al- Masri says that “the basic law does not make any mention of an emergency government” and that “any government or even any minister should be granted a voice of conference by the Palestinian Legislative Council.” Therefore, he says, “the formation of a government without a vote of confidence is illegitimate and illegal and should not be recognized,” adding that “there is no choice but to sit at the negotiating table.”
Asked who will sit at the negotiating table, Al-Masri says that “a serious dialogue is required among the Palestinian forces and factions,” adding that “coup-seekers in Gaza Strip worked in favour of persons and foreign agendas, committed crimes against our people, and foiled the mission of the independent interior minister.” He says that “our Palestinian people have purged the security apparatuses of these elements and are enjoying stability,” quoting a former security chief as “accusing the former security apparatuses of trafficking drugs and capitalizing on Palestinian blood.”
Asked if the former security apparatuses were involved in trafficking drugs and capitalizing on Palestinian blood, wondering how Hamas took control of Gaza Strip despite the presence of 25,000 security elements from Fatah Movement.
Dahlan says that “I have listened carefully to what this idiot [Mushir al-Masri] has just said,” that “Al-Masri has not learned any lesson from past experiences,” and that “criminals in Hamas Movement, who have carried out a coup against the Palestinian people and the PNA, say such nonsense.” Dahlan wonders: “What was that necessary step, which prompted Khalid Mish’al and the other criminals to kill Fatah members and destroy the security apparatuses?” These killers, he says, “also broke into the home of late President Yasir Arafat; tampered with his personal belongings, which represent the Palestinian people’s history, dignity, and genuine past; and even treaded his photographs.” He also wonders “why Khalid Mish’al and his clique committed aggression against the home of martyr Abu-Jihad [Khalil al-Wazir] this morning, tampered with the contents of the home, and confiscated his belongings, including the handgun from which he fired the last bullet at the military force that assassinated him in Tunis.” These are not necessary steps, he says, adding that “the criminals shed Palestinian blood and violated Palestinian dignity in a way that has revealed the true face of these killers, who do not see any dividing line between disagreement and killing.” Dahlan also quotes Al- Masri, “the idiot,” as saying that “Gaza Strip enjoys a quiet and happy life,” adding that “Gaza Strip is facing the most difficult days in its life, thanks to the Israeli siege, destruction, assassinations, and crimes committed by Hamas militias.” Dahlan also says that “Al-Masri has not responded to the questions posed to him” and that “Hamas Movement usually does not respond to questions that need a solution.”
Asked if Al-Masri does not want to respond to questions, Dahlan says that “Hamas has no programme for construction or liberation. It does not believe in the idea of a national state. It does not differentiate between a state in Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, or Costa Rica. Affiliation to the homeland is a secondary issue in their view.” He also says that “PNA President Abbas has a legal right to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government, which must seek a vote of confidence from the Legislative council 30 days after its formation.” Hamas “has carried out a coup against everything,” he says, adding that “Izz-al-Din al- Qassam Brigades, the military wing of HSAMAS Movement, has plundered or destroyed security centres, civilian institutions, hospitals, and homes of officials and non-officials and even committed aggression against women.”
Al-Ramahi says that Hamas will not deal with the emergency government and that the Legislative Council will refuse to give a vote of confidence to the emergency government, asking how long the PNA will revolve in that vicious circle.
Responding, Dahlan says that “Brother Abu-Mazin [Mahmud Abbas], in his capacity as the PLO chairman and the PNA president, will honour his political, moral, and social obligations as much as he can.” He also says that “Abu-Mazin has also issued his instructions to find ways to provide food, services, and even salaries for the strip,” adding that “Hamas has carried out a coup against itself and human values and will bear full responsibility.”
Asked how Hamas managed to control Gaza Strip despite the presence of 25,000 security personnel affiliated to Fatah, Dahlan says that “the security establishment has not been prepared to fight Hamas Movement,” that “during the Palestinian intifadah, the security apparatuses offered numerous martyrs and even protected half of the Hamas leaders, as well as Hamas’s military apparatus.” He also says that “violations in the security apparatuses do not give Hamas the right to carry out a coup against that establishment,” adding that “Hamas used elections and then turned against everything” and that “such radical groups are not ready to accept the other.”
Al-Ramahi quotes Khalid Mish’al and Mushir al-Masri as saying that Hamas called for reformulating the security apparatuses on new bases, asking what Hamas wants.
Responding, Dahlan says that “the Mecca agreement does not make any mention of the security apparatuses,” adding that “I addressed a letter to former Interior Minister Sa’id Siyam proposing the reconstruction of the security establishment in accordance with the basic law in order to keep it away from political and factional influences.” He also says that “Hamas leaders reject any security apparatuses not affiliated to the movement,” that “they do not want reform in the security apparatuses,” and that “they want to carry out a coup.”
Asked what will happen if the Legislative Council refuses to give its vote of confidence to the emergency government, Dahlan says that “30 days after its formation, the government will seek a vote of confidence,” that “if the council refuses to give its vote of confidence, Brother Abu-Mazin can ask someone else to form a government,” and that “if the council rejects the government again, Abu-Mazin will have the right to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government.” He also says that “we reject empty argument, false slogans, and disgusting allegations” and that “these vile people have revealed their true faces.”
Asked how the emergency government will handle Gaza Strip, Dahlan says that “the new prime minister is required to secure the necessary funds and lift the political blockade on the Palestinian people,” adding that “Hamas will have to face the consequences and pay the political price of its behaviour.”
Al-Ramahi notes that Hamas officials demand dialogue.
Responding, Dahlan says that “Brother Abu-Mazin exerted great efforts to resume dialogue with Hamas, but they broke into his home and stole his cars and even his clothes,” adding that “President Abu- Mazin will go ahead with his measures to pay salaries to the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip and ease their suffering until they get rid of that disgrace.”
On whether Palestinians can dream of a Palestinian state despite the current division, Dahlan says “the Palestinians will continue to dream until their dream is realized” and that “a Palestinian state will be declared one day.” He also says that “Hamas rejected the PNA, the elections in 1996, and late Yasir Arafat’s programme.”
Asked if any talk about the Palestine question and Israel is still justifiable, Dahlan says that “since Abu-Mazin took power, Israel has alleged that there is no Palestinian partner” and that “the situation in Israel cannot not provide any meaningful political prospect for an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Al-Ramahi says that the Palestinian situation is not better.
In response, Dahlan says that “the Palestinian situation is facing a crisis as a result of the emergence of elements believing that they can solve problems by invoking God,” adding that “the Palestinian situation is fragile.” He also blames Israel for the current political crisis and says that “Israel and Hamas have formed an indirect partnership to destroy the political process.”
(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.