A Futile Truce

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Over a fairly long period of time, my argument in the media on the question of a truce has been the following: if the Palestinian resistance factions believe that the Palestinian people needs a truce, in the hope that it might ease the intensity of Zionist attacks, then they should take a collective decision to that effect independently of the Arab regimes and the Zionist entity, for the following reasons:

So as not to hand the Zionist entity a media pretext for continuing its intensive attacks, and so as not to draw the blame of the Arab regimes that despise the resistance and the resistance fighters. Israel’s attacks will continue regardless, but the factions will find themselves at ease before their people and before anyone who levels at them accusations of one-upmanship, obstinacy, or gambling with the people’s future;

So that they retain for themselves the choice of when to return to resistance, at whatever time they judge appropriate;

So that they are not accused of negotiating with Israel indirectly.

As for the search for a mutual truce with Israel, my view has been that Israel will not accept a mutual truce, but will accept only a unilateral truce, under probation, without committing itself to anything, whether spoken or written. And if it were to accept a mutual truce, it would come with conditions: recognition of Israel and of the agreements signed with the Palestinian Authority, renunciation of terrorism, along with the necessity of resisting the resistance itself.

Leaders of Palestinian factions used to appear alongside me in the media and argue against my position, saying that they wanted to force the Zionists into a mutual truce, and that the interests of our people require insisting on a mutual truce that preserves our dignity and compels Israel to halt its attacks. These were the traditional factional responses, marked by empty bluster and rhetorical one-upmanship.

Now the factions have agreed to a unilateral truce, and I have not yet read the details of the document that was signed, if indeed there is a document. Nor have I read the accompanying Egyptian commitments, if anything of the sort has even been put in writing. To begin with, I offer the following observations:

Egypt is no fit address for mediation between the Palestinians and the Zionists. It is supposed to be a party, not a mediator, and it is shameful for us to accept it as one;

All the factions that came together on the truce had condemned the Camp David Accords and heaped the vilest epithets on the Egyptian regime. These same factions have rushed to Cairo before, and here they are rushing again under the banner of Camp David.

The Palestinian factions are conducting indirect political negotiations with Israel, and in the past Arafat did not escape the statements, the tongues, and the accusations of these very factions. Arafat began indirect negotiations back in the seventies, just as these factions have been doing for years now.

The Egyptian regime played a fundamental role in dragging the Palestine Liberation Organization into political positions that ended with the ill-omened Oslo Accords, and I do not think the Palestinian factions believe the regime has abandoned that role.

Revolutionary Palestinian factions meet in the presence of an Arab intelligence chief, with everything that Arab intelligence services represent in the way of repression and conspiracy against the Arab nation and the national interests of every Arab people.

…and they do not let up on mutual recrimination once the attendees leave their meetings. It appears that these factions cannot agree except in the presence of someone able to cut their grandiloquent talk down to a size that touches reality and matches the scale of their actual deeds. It seems that Omar Suleiman and his like among the men of repressive security are the fitting figures to chair meetings of the Palestinian factions.

After the announcement of this truce, the following will happen:

The Egyptian regime will head to America and Israel bearing an achievement, asking them to ease the siege on Gaza;

Israel will respond partially and will ease the food and fuel pressure on Gaza, but it will continue its military operations.

Israel will tell Egypt that rocket fire from Gaza has stopped, but that the resistance factions are building up their capabilities and preparedness, in violation of the terms of the truce. Israel will continue killing people at a slower pace than at present, but it will not accept the continuation of Palestinian resistance activities, considering them a future security threat.

Some resistance factions will respond to Israeli attacks, and the truce will unravel.

Egypt will not constitute a guarantee against Israeli attacks, because Egypt is not sovereign and does not control its own decisions; Egypt has guaranteed a truce before, and did nothing against Israel when the Cairo truce collapsed several years ago.

The argument of those who rely on Egypt will collapse. There are those who say that Egypt has prepared to take measures if Israel fails to abide by the truce, including opening the Rafah crossing. This is an argument built on illusions. The Egyptian regime is too powerless to open the crossing fully and continuously, and it will sell the Palestinians nothing but sugared talk about Arab brotherhood and shared destiny. The Egyptian regime cannot step outside the Zionist and American will, and you, faction leaders, cannot even travel to Egypt without Israeli approval in the first place.

What should we do? I see the following points:

We must focus on rebuilding Palestinian society — socially, economically, and morally. With a society such as the one that exists now, we cannot take a single step forward, and we have nothing left but retreat. Society is not fit to rise up, the factions are not fit either, and they have led the Palestinian people into bloody internal conflict and major political concessions;

We must think about liberating our daily bread from the hands of our enemies. The matter is difficult, but we must not fail before we even try. I have a complete project on this question;

We must establish a joint operations room to oversee the management of the resistance, independent of the political level, and responsible for national security;

An administrative council of national independents with no ties to the factions should be formed to manage the daily civil affairs of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza;

We must work to rebuild the Palestine Liberation Organization under a new charter, and in a manner in which everyone participates.

Drafting a cultural and intellectual program that unites the Palestinian people wherever they may be found;

Returning the Palestinian cause to its Arab, Islamic, popular embrace.

There is no escape for us except to return to ourselves. The Palestinian people has been subjected to a draining of its morale, its national spirit, its ethics, and its social fabric, and the time has come for us to carry our own burdens seriously, and in a scientific manner grounded in self-reliance.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “تهدئة بلا جدوى” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.