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Marcia Fremont is a freelance writer who, after many years of coming to
Israel made aliyah in 2006. Her writing includes political commentary,
reflections on life in Eretz Yisrael, and a book published in 2001.
Additionally she is involved in research regarding dispersed and hidden Jews
throughout the world.
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By Marcia Fremont
July 4, 2007
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In April 2006 I wrote an article titled "The Silk Suits of Hamas". In this piece I suggested that the election of Hamas was no accident, that it was part of an "arrangement" to either help bolster Mahmoud Abbas or to take advantage of Haniyeh's charisma and popularity to bring about the desired two states "living side by side in peace." I wrote:
"It's all part of the game plan. Hamas's victory was planned so that there might be one of two possible outcomes: 1) Hamas would create chaos, out of which Abbas would rise as the moderate leader to establish order; or 2) Hamas itself, with a charismatic leader like Haniyeh, would be able to accomplish the establishment of the Palestinian state, something the un-charismatic Abbas had been unable to do."
I explained in this article that the rise to power of the Palestinian entity and its leaders was carefully orchestrated, from purposely pulling Arafat out of his exile in Tunisia, to replacing him with Mahmoud Abbas, to adding newcomer Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. I suggested that Arafat's purpose was to terrorize Israel into a more submissive posture -- a role at which he exceeded well. When his eccentricity was no longer an asset and his antics problematic, he became a liability and was moved out of the picture. Waiting in the wings was Mahmoud Abbas (nom de guerre, Abu Mazen). Mazen was regarded by some as simply a "terrorist in a silk suit", but to the powers that be he was a more placable candidate for international acceptance. Unfortunately, Abbas was just too lackluster to accomplish much, and if truth be told, the world missed the drama of Arafat's antics. A compelling leader was needed who would wear both kefiyah and a silk suit.
Enter Ismail Haniyeh, the enormously popular leader of Hamas. Elections were set up for the Palestinian Authority, but there was one small problem -- President Clinton had listed Hamas as a terrorist group in 1995 and as such it could not run in a "democratic" election. Easily solved - the US State Department simply lifted its objection to Hamas' inclusion on the 2006 election ballot and Israel was either forced by the US, or simply agreed, to allow Hamas participation, publicly proclaiming that they wouldn't interfere with internal Palestinian politics. All involved knew exactly how much street popularity Hamas held, and any expression of "surprise" at their victory was simply a charade. The charismatic Haniyeh swept into power?.by design.
And that is just the beginning of the story. Most everything that I predicted in that article has come to pass. I suggested, along with many others, that in spite of the phony embargo placed on funds entering a Hamas controlled government, money would flow into the coffers of the Palestinian Authority. In fact, it was beyond my wildest imagination. According to then Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, (now, not coincidentally, newly appointed Prime Minister), the 2006 budgetary funding of the Palestinian government by other nations and organizations was $880 million compared to $350 million in 2005 -- up more than 250%! Adding in direct financial "humanitarian" aid, the figure is at least $1.35 billion. (NYTimes, March 21, 2007)
In addition, I predicted that instead of the isolation threatened by the US and Israel, Haniyeh would begin to travel and meet with world leaders and heads of State. While his physical travels have been until now been primarily in the Islamic world, where he has been happily received, he has garnered recognition and future invitations from Norway, Switzerland, Russia, China, and some Latin American countries. And while there is a yet unverifiable rumor that Haniyeh has met with Pope Benedict, it is verifiable that Haniyeh met with the Vatican's representative to Israel, Archbishop Antonio Franco, in August of 2006. Even more remarkable, none other than Condoleezza Rice is now calling Hamas a "resistance movement" and no longer a terrorist group. (US State Dept. website: Interview with New York Daily News, June 08, 2007) Haniyeh is hardly the promised pariah that rhetoric would lead us to believe.
It gets worse. There is now mounting evidence that the so called Hamas "coup" in Gaza may have been staged. Oh yes, there were a few casualties, and a few confused Fatah members fleeing Gaza (now returning). But as investigative researcher Francisco Gil-White states in his recent articles, these casualties are more like "high level purges" of superfluous or troublesome leaders who needed to be moved out of the way. Gil-White has researched the recent bizarre activity emanating from Gaza and published a must-read synopsis on his website.
There are a number of possibilities. First of all, that all this was planned to bolster the Palestinian Authority is clear. Before the dust was even settled, the world leaders were falling all over each other to give kudos to Mahmoud Abbas, wanting to pour more money, more weapons and training towards the man who purportedly just lost it all to a superior warrior! Even a child can see through this ridiculous scam. It is so slick it squeaks.
The question remains however, as to who is tricking whom. One might suggest a fake coup to bolster the man or organization expected to deliver the goods of a Palestinian state, but the real question is whether that man is Abu Mazen or Ismail Haniyeh, whether the bet is on Fatah or Hamas. Perhaps it is not either/or -- perhaps it is both. Either the Quartet and friends are playing both sides against each other, waiting to see who emerges as the strong man, or they already know that Hamas and Fatah are two peas in the same pod, complementary elements working together to accomplish the same goal.
I raised another question in my earlier article as to whether or not Haniyeh would play by the rules of the game or would he have a few tricks up his sleeve? It is still a legitimate one.
On my desk is an AP photo of a giggling Ismail Haniyeh and Mahmoud Abbas gleefully shaking hands over their unity government in March 2007, and looking much like surreptitious children who just fooled their parents in some outrageous trick. We simply don't know yet whether the caption should read "Aren't we the cat's meow to be in on this?" or "Boy, did we put one over on them!"
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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