What's Behind Abbas's Renewed Courtship of Hamas?

by Khaled Abu Toameh
April 8, 2014 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4253/abbas-hamas-reconciliation

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For Abbas, the issue of reconciliation with Hamas is yet another legitimate weapon to scare the Israelis and the US into submitting to his demands and preconditions. It now remains to be seen whether the US Administration will take the bait.

Now that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has succeeded in surprising the US and Israel with his decision to apply for Palestinian membership in 15 international institutions and treaties, he seems to be preparing another surprise for the Americans and Israelis: a unity agreement with Hamas.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, in February 2007, before Hamas seized total control of Gaza. (Image source: MaanImages)

Earlier this week, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was also surprised to receive a phone call from Azzam al-Ahmed, a close advisor to Abbas.
The purpose of the phone call was to request permission from Haniyeh for a visit from senior Fatah officials to the Gaza Strip to discuss unity and reconciliation between the two rival parties.
Haniyeh's office replied that he would welcome a visit to the Gaza Strip "out of keenness for unity and in order to protect the national interests of the Palestinians."
Abbas's renewed effort to join forces with Hamas came even as U.S. envoy Martin Indyk was busy trying to prevent the breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian talks in wake of Abbas's surprise decision to apply for membership in international organizations and conventions.
The current crisis in the peace talks has prompted many Palestinians, including Abbas's loyalists, to renew calls for unity between Fatah and Hamas as a way of confronting Israeli-American pressure.
Adli Sadek, a columnist affiliated with Abbas, said that the Palestinians "have no other choice but to reunite in order to maintain their national stance and adhere to the goal of independence and freedom."
Sadek and other Palestinians said that the Palestinians were now in need of a "unified and realistic national strategy" to confront Israel and enhance their political power."
Abbas might have been encouraged by Hamas's positive response to his request. Shortly after Abbas announced his plan, Hamas spokesman Ehab al-Ghissin praised him for making a "good decision."
This is not the first time that Abbas is playing the Hamas card as a means of exerting pressure on Israel and the U.S.
Ever since the Israeli-Palestinian talks resumed seven months ago, Abbas has made a number of attempts to show the Israelis and Americans that he has not abandoned his desire to achieve reconciliation with Hamas.
Earlier this year, at the first sign of a crisis in the peace talks, Abbas dispatched a high-level Fatah delegation to the Gaza Strip for talks with Hamas leaders on ways of ending the dispute between them.
Hamas and Fatah representatives have since held a series of meetings in Arab countries with the goal of achieving reconciliation and unity.
More recently, Chief PLO Negotiator Saeb Erekat came out with a proposal that calls for Hamas and Islamic Jihad to join the PLO and a Palestinian unity government.
Erekat's proposal is also seen in the context of the Palestinian Authority leadership's attempt to put pressure on Israel and the US.
The Palestinian Authority's message to Israel and the US is: You either give us all that we are asking for or we will join forces with Hamas.
Abbas knows that the Israelis and Americans are strongly opposed to such a move, particularly in light of Hamas's fierce opposition to any peace process and ongoing threats to eliminate Israel.
Any rapprochement between Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas would only facilitate the Islamist movement's dream of extending its control from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank.
Hamas, for its part, seems to be suspicious of Abbas's renewed attempts to achieve reconciliation and unity between the two parties.
Hamas representatives say that while Abbas is talking about ending the dispute, his security forces are continuing their crackdown on Hamas's supporters in the West Bank.
"Perhaps Abbas is not satisfied with what his security forces are doing to Hamas cadres in the West Bank," said Hamas operative Ibrahim al-Madhoun. "But he's not doing anything to prevent or limit the crackdown."
Even some of Abbas's Fatah loyalists expressed skepticism regarding the prospects of ending the conflict with Hamas, adding that the gap between the two sides remains as far apart as ever.
"Hamas does not want reconciliation," declared Fatah's Faisal Abu Shahla. "Each time we come close to ending the dispute, Hamas comes up with new excuses."
Abbas is now waging a battle aimed at extracting as many concessions as possible from Israel and the US. He has used the decision to apply for membership in 15 international organizations and treaties as a means to intensify pressure on the Israeli government and US Administration to accept his demands for pursuing the peace talks.
Abbas may not be sincere about achieving reconciliation with Hamas. He knows that such a move would be counterproductive and that Hamas would take advantage of the reconciliation to advance its goal of seizing control over the West Bank.
But for Abbas, the issue of reconciliation with Hamas is yet another legitimate weapon to scare the Israelis and Americans into submitting to his demands and pre-conditions. It now remains to be seen whether the US Administration will take the bait.

Related Topics: Khaled Abu Toameh

"They Are Slaughtering Us Like Chickens"
Muslim Persecution of Christians, December, 2013

by Raymond Ibrahim
April 8, 2014 at 4:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4252/slaughtering-christians

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"The songs of praise to God are banned here." — Police officers to Christians, Turkmenistan.

"Meanwhile, an increasing number of people are being incarcerated for crimes of opinion and defense of religious freedom." — Asia News

As happens at Christmas every year throughout the Muslim world, Christians and their churches were especially targeted—from jihadi terror strikes killing worshippers, to measures by Muslim authorities restricting Christmas celebrations.
In Denmark, Christmas Eve witnessed Islamic demonstrations and cries of "Allahu Akbar" ("Allah is greater," meaning: than anything.).
In Iraq, according to the Associated Press [AP], "Militants targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday. In one attack, a car bomb went off near a church in the capital's southern Dora neighborhood, killing at least 26 people and wounding 38, a police officer said. Earlier, two bombs ripped through a nearby outdoor market simultaneously in the Christian section of Athorien, killing 11 people and wounding 21."
In Iran, five Muslim converts to Christianity were arrested in a house-church during a Christmas celebration. Plainclothes Iranian security authorities raided a house where, according to Mohabat News, "a group of Christians had gathered to celebrate Christmas on Tuesday, December 24." Before arresting the five apostates, authorities "insulted and searched those in attendance, and seized all Christian books, CDs, and laptops they found. They also took the Satellite TV receiver."
In Indonesia, Muslims in the Aceh province protested against Christmas and New Year celebrations and called on authorities to ban them. Days earlier, an influential Islamic clerical organization, the Ulema Consultative Assembly, issued a fatwa, or opinion, "prohibiting Muslims from offering Christmas wishes or celebrating on New Year's Eve," the AP reported.
In Kenya, "Youths threw petrol bombs at two Kenyan churches on Christmas day ... in the latest bout of violence against Christians on the country's predominantly Muslim coast," according to Reuters. The attacks occurred "in the early hours of December 25 after churchgoers held services to usher in Christmas." One church was "completely destroyed."
In Somalia, the "moderate" government—as it is often portrayed in comparison to the Al Shabaab ("The Youth") opposition—banned Christmas celebrations. Hours before Christmas day, the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs released a directive banning any Christian festivities. In the words of one ministry official: "We alert fellow Muslims in Somalia that some festivities to mark Christian Days will take place around the world in this week. It is prohibited to celebrate those days in this country." All security and law enforcement agencies were instructed to quash any Christian celebrations.
In Pakistan, during Christmas Eve services, "Heavy contingents of police were deployed around the churches to thwart any untoward incident." In some regions, "prayer service at major churches focused on remembering the Pakistani Christians who lost their lives in terror attacks." Three months earlier, for instance, Islamic suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church compound in Peshawar after Sunday mass and blew themselves amidst approximately 550 congregants. They killed 130 worshippers, including many Sunday-school children, women, and choir members, and injuring nearly 200 others.
Syria's Greek-Catholic Church declared that it had three "true martyrs"—men from the small town of Ma'loula, an ancient Christian site for over two thousand years. According to Asia News, "When the town fell [in September, to al-Qaeda linked rebels], a climate of fear was imposed... When three men refused to repudiate their religion, they were summarily executed in public, and six more were taken hostage. This was followed by a failed attempt by Syrian government forces to retake the town." In the words of Patriarch Gregorios III to Pope Francis in a meeting: "Holy Father, they are true martyrs. Ordered to give up their faith, they proudly refused. Three others however gave in and were forced to declare themselves Muslim, but later returned to the faith of their ancestors." According to the families who fled from Ma'loula, "some of their Muslim neighbors took part in the attack that devastated this historic village where people still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Muslims are approximately one third of the population of the village..."
The rest of December's roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and country in alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity.

Islamic Attacks on Christian Places of Worship

Egypt: After a Coptic Christian priest from the village of Tarshoub, Upper Egypt, left to service a new location and a new priest was sent to Tarshoub, Muslim Brotherhood supporters rioted and attacked the village Christians, by throwing stones at their homes, burning property, and calling for the closure of the village church, which has existed for 40 years. The church was subsequently closed and the priest prevented from entering the village. The Christian Post reported that Christian villagers were "getting close to the New Year celebrations and Christmas, and yet they are not able to open the church.... security authorities have not arrested the aggressors, while Copts were forced to close the church for fear of more attacks, especially in light of continued incitement by the Muslim Brotherhood."
Indonesia: Five more churches were closed by authorities, leaving thousands of Christians without a place of worship. Claiming that the existence of a Protestant church in North Sumatra was illegal, hundreds of Muslims belonging to the Islamic Defenders Front attacked and disrupted its Sunday services. The police had to escort the Christians home. Then, two new churches—one in West Java, the other in South Sulawesi—were sealed off. The Sulawesi church was subsequently demolished by authorities. A few days later, two more churches near Jakarta were forced to stop holding services. According to International Christian Concern: "The reason behind this month's rash of church closures, especially after seven months of relative quiet, is not exactly clear. It may be that the coming Christmas holiday has ignited always simmering anti-Christian sentiment among radical groups. In 2000, 16 were killed by bomb attacks on churches over the Christmas holiday."
Russia: In December, it was revealed that a total of seven Christian churches were torched in 2013. In Tatarstan, a Muslim-majority republic in Russia, according to Asia News: "Churches burned, attacks foiled and increased pressure on Christians to convert to Islam. In Tatarstan—autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, with a Muslim majority—the extremism alarm is increasing." Although the culprits setting fire to churches are "unidentified extremists," Father Dmitri Sizov, pastor of Pestrechinsky, said that "the whole community knows that it is the work of the Wahhabis [Islamic literalists]" who "roam, inviting the faithful to convert to Islam." But "the priests remain silent because they are afraid of being accused of incitement to religious hatred," added Fr. Dmitri.
Syria: In the southern province of Daraa, Islamic rebel forces firing mortar shells on a church succeeded in killing 12 people and injuring many others, including church volunteers who were there distributing charity aid. Separately, five young children were killed when rebels fired two rockets at a Christian school. According to the Patriarch of the Church of Antioch, more than 450,000 Christian Syrians have been displaced by the conflict, and more than a thousand have been killed.

Islamic Attacks on Christian Freedom: Apostasy, Proselytizing, and Dhimmitude

Cameroon: The Islamic group Boko Haram, from neighboring Nigeria, slit the throat of a Christian missionary, David Dina Mataware, who had worked in a Nigeria-based mission agency in Cameroon for 14 years, bringing the Gospel to remote tribes, and a French priest, Father Georges Vandenbeusch, was kidnapped.
Egypt: "The nation's most well-known convert from Islam" to Christianity -- Bishoy Armia Boulous, 31—popularly known by his former Muslim name, Muhammad Hegazy— was arrested in a café for allegedly inciting "sectarian strife," among other charges, according to Morning News; he "is likely being tortured." Authorities claim he was working with a Coptic satellite station to create a "false image" of violence against Christians in Minya, Upper Egypt, where attacks on Copts are common. Human rights activists close to Bishoy, however, say "his arrest had nothing to do with any reporting work but constituted retaliation for becoming a Christian" and possibly for evangelizing to Muslims.
Iran: The Islamic republic's secret police assaulted the wife and children of jailed evangelical Pastor Behnam Irani while raiding their home. According to a source assisting the family with advocacy, "They confiscated her laptop computer and Christian materials... While the secret police were in her home they were yelling at her and doing their best to scare her. This really frightened the children, Rebekah and Adriel," and was apparently meant to create enough "fear to silence them." The raid came after the imprisoned evangelical leader—a former Muslim—was told by a court to remain behind bars because he "did not change."
Syria: The anti-Christian strictures of Sharia, or Islamic law, continued to be applied to Christians by Islamic rebels. According to Agenzia Fides, "Kanaye [a Christian region] has been invaded by Islamist militants that terrorize the population, threaten a massacre and have imposed the Islamic law… This has become a pattern that …in recent weeks has focused on a number of Christian villages: armed guerrillas penetrate into the village, terrorize civilians, commit kidnappings, kill, sow destruction." Father George Louis of the village of Qara, which has been devastated and burned, explained: "Macular, Sednaya, Sadad, Qara and Deir Atieh, Nebek: armed jihadists target a village, they invade it, kill people, burn and devastate it."
Turkmenistan: Police and secret police agents in Dashoguz, a northern city, raided a group of believers of the Church of the Light of the East, a Protestant community. Forces raiding two houses of prayer seized religious materials, including Bibles. An official of the Department of Religious Affairs, who is also an imam at the local mosque, went on to inform the pastor that his faith "is wrong" and warned him to convert to Islam. He added that "Christianity is a mistake ... it's not a religion, but a myth." Christians practicing hymns for Sunday service were told by officers that "the songs of praise to God are banned here." Adds Asia News: "Meanwhile, an increasing number of people are being incarcerated for crimes of opinion and defense of religious freedom."

Carnage of Christians

Central African Republic: In just two days of violence, at least 1,000 people were killed in Bangui, CAR's capital, after the Seleka, a coalition of Muslim militias, whose members include many foreigners, ousted the Christian president in a Christian-majority nation with a significant Muslim-minority, and installed a Muslim ruler. Because some Christians tried to resist with violence, killing around 60 Muslim males in combat, the Islamic group "retaliated on a larger scale against Christians in the wake of the attack, killing nearly 1,000 men over a two-day period and systematically looting civilian homes. A small number of women and children were also killed," reported Amnesty International. Tens of thousands of Christians fled from Muslims wielding machetes. Many Christians are now living in desperate conditions around churches and bishoprics. "They are slaughtering us like chickens," said one Christian. "We have had enough of Seleka killing, raping and stealing," said another. He added that he was not sure if he could ever go back and live among Muslims. "We are angry," he said. "The Muslims should go back where they came from."

Pictured in this Jan. 15, 2014 photograph are some of the 100,000 displaced persons taking refuge at Bangui airport in the Central African Republic. (Image source: European Commission DG ECHO/Pierre-Yves Scotto)

Nigeria: Islamic Fulani herdsmen killed at least 205 Christian farmers in the latter half of 2013, while ten thousand more Christians were displaced and many churches destroyed or closed. Christian leaders, according to Morning Star News, "had no doubt the Muslim assailants aimed to demoralize and destroy Christians." Several of the attackers appear to be mercenaries from outside the area. "Life has become unbearable for our church members who have survived these attacks, and they are making worship services impossible," said a Roman Catholic bishop. Another area Christian leader said that, "Many of our Christian brethren have been killed. The Muslim gunmen that are attacking our Christian communities are numerous; they are so many that we can't count them. They are spread across all the communities and unleashing terror on our people without any security resistance."

About this Series

While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians is expanding. "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that surface each month.
It documents what the mainstream media often fails to report.
It posits that such persecution is not random but systematic, and takes place in all languages ethnicities and locations.
Raymond Ibrahim is author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War in Christians (published by Regnery in cooperation with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).
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