Fatah Official Urges Hamas To Abandon Muslim Brotherhood
Fatah senses Hamas' regional decline, and is urging it to focus its efforts on national reconciliation.
While all eyes in the Arab world are focused on Egypt, in Palestine, people have one eye on the events in Egypt and another on Hamas. Observers realize that the political future of Hamas and its current position cannot be separated from what is occurring in the Egyptian political arena.
Prior to the revolution, Egypt served as an incubator for reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Following the Jan. 25 Revolution it maintained this role, yet with one essential difference: Members of the Muslim Brotherhood were the decision-makers. Hamas, according to its charter, is one of the Brotherhood's wings in Palestine. Thus, the link between the deteriorating situation in Egypt and Hamas' political situation was inevitable, especially since Egypt serves as the only "lung" to the outside world for the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has controlled since 2007.
Osama Qawasmi, a spokesman for Fatah, said, "Hamas is going through very difficult times after it has abandoned its historic strategic allies, and following the Arab Spring, particularly in Egypt."
Speaking to Al-Monitor, Qawasmi said, "The safest way for the Hamas movement to persist is for it to give up being a part of the global Muslim Brotherhood, which has failed when it comes to managing political affairs in the countries that witnessed the Arab Spring." He continued, "For years, Hamas has neglected the national project according to purely partisan agendas and considerations. The movement has always bet on foreign regimes and an attempted coup against legitimacy."
