Palestinian Reconciliation Not Close
Despite recent meetings in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas aimed at reconciliation, in light of current conditions the two sides are still far from reaching a lasting agreement, writes Naela Khalil.
Despite the "warm peace" witnessed between Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fatah official responsible for the reconciliation file, and Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy chief of Hamas' political bureau, on Feb. 28 in Cairo, the meeting's good feelings did not transfer to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip in any way. Moreover, the relationship between the two movements continues to deteriorate.
Political analyst Hani al-Masry, who is currently in Cairo following up on Palestinian reconciliation meetings, noted, "Yes, today there was a meeting and a 'warm peace' between Ahmad and Abu Marzouk, whoever saw them would even assume they were friends and that the relationship between Fatah and Hamas was fine. However, the situation on the ground between the two movements is drastically different."
The recent exchange between Ahmad and the head of the Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, had a significant impact, deepening pessimistic feelings among a broad sector of the Palestinian people that any talk of reconciliation is just for media consumption, having no effect on the ground.
This exchange of words, which began on Feb. 21 and was covered by media outlets, has snowballed. It has led to Dweik appearing on a Palestinian TV channel on Feb. 26 to say: "I am upset that Ahmad is the head of the Fatah delegation. This man is incompetent both psychologically and intellectually. The fact that he has accused me of coordinating with former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin means that he is either drunk or detached from reality."
