West bank, Gaza form unity government

Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas struck a breakthrough reconciliation with rival Islamist group Hamas in Qatar last Monday, which will place Abbas as the head of an interim unity government to prepare for elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

This move has frozen peace negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, who considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization.

"This is a major problem for Israel," said Shahar Arieli, deputy consul general of Israel to the Midwest. "Hamas exclusively calls for the destruction of Israel."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the agreement between the two factions, stating that Fatah must choose between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel.

The reconciliation has received far less objection within Palestinian communities, who view the agreement as a move by Hamas towards peace.

"The fact that Hamas is willing to support Abbas as the leader of the government is a welcome move," said Misbahudeen Rufai, urban development director for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. "But we must also put it in the context of Syria, where Hamas has maintained a presence and the mood internationally."

Syria has been the base for Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal since the start of the Bashar al-Assad regime. During this time, Syria regularly condemned and threatened the nation of Israel.

Because of the unrest throughout Syria, Meshaal and other Hamas leaders have been searching for a new base of operations for their government. The signing of the most recent reconciliation in Doha, Qatar, might point to Qatar as the new home for Hamas.

The temporary unified government has claimed its primary initiative is the establishment of democratic elections in Palestinian settlements within the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This would require a large-scale registration of Palestinian voters and, therefore, collaboration among the rival groups.

Israeli officials, including Arieli, fear that if Hamas comes to power through an election process, it could cause disaster and violence for the state of Israel.

"A democratic process does not necessarily create a democracy," said Arieli. "In Germany the Nazis came to power through a democratic process, and that did not turn out to be a democracy."

The movement of Hamas out of Syria and the group's recent dialogues with other Arab states might be an indication of a shifting ideology within the organization.

"Hamas must position itself to gain favor with other Arab nations," Rufai said.

Gaining favor within the Arab world might require Hamas to renounce many of its extremist statements and begin to play politics with the rest of the Middle East. Such renouncing of a jihad agenda would be the only foreseeable way for negotiations between Israel and Palestine to take place.

"Hamas would have to renounce their violent ways, recognize the peaceful agreements already made and recognize Israel as a state," said Arieli.

Students within the DePaul community are optimistic that the move is a sign of a more peaceful Hamas.

"I feel like the deal points to the fact that Hamas is finding a more secular nature," said sophomore computer science major Stanton Valentino. "They are going to have to put down their arms and start wearing suits if they expect the international community to play."

A secular shift would be within the spirit of the Arab Spring, which gained footing not through religious movements, but rather political movements.

Regardless of Hamas' intentions or shifting rhetoric, the unification agreement between Hamas and Fatah reveals a step towards solidarity by the Palestinians. President Abbas, Hamas Leader Meshaal and other Palestinians seem to have realized there can be no Palestinian state if the Palestinians themselves are split into factions.