Discovering MENA and other thoughts

“Hay que tener cuidado al elegir a los enemigos porque uno termina pareciéndose a ellos”, dijo en su día Jorge Luis Borges. Cuando tu principal enemigo está en casa y está tan imbricado con tu misma de razón de ser, no es de extrañar que te sea difícil avanzar y luchar contra el enemigo exterior. Es éste el caso de la causa palestina, que no se conforma con chocar una y otra vez contra el muro de la intolerancia israelí, sino que se ve continuamente erosionada por las diferencias y luchas cainitas en el seno de la propia élite palestina. El ejemplo más significativo es la guerra – no por coincidencia denominada “guerra entre hermanos” – entre Hamas y Fatah, que estalló cuando los primeros se proclamaron vencedores de las elecciones que la Franja de Gaza había celebrado en enero de 2006.

"You have to be careful when choosing your enemies because sooner or later you will end up resembling them," Jorge Luis Borges said once. When your main enemy is your team-mate and is deeply embedded with your very raison d'être, it's no wonder how difficult it may be for you to move forward and fight any external threat whatsoever. This is exactly the case with the Palestinian cause, that does not seem to have enough with crashing time and again against the wall of Israeli intolerance and sees itself continually eroded by brotherly differences and struggles within the Palestinian elite itself. The most significant example of this is the war - not coincidentally called "war between brothers" - between Hamas and Fatah that broke out when the former were proclaimed winners of the elections the January 2006 Gaza Strip.

You know I believe Palestinian reconciliation is vital if Palestinian politicians really want to create momentum for the Palestinian cause. Every once in a while, if we are attentive enough to the Arab media, we may read news about a new deal between Fatah and Hamas brokered by Cairo, thanks to improved relations between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood (although many believe the bulk of the Peace Process and everything related to it still remains in the realms of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service/Mukhabarat ). The latest news broke out on 15 May, whereby Fatah and Hamas had set a three-month timetable to form a unity government and organize elections to choose the members of the Parliament in exile of the Palestinian People, the Palestinian National Council (PNC), a key step in order to grant all decisions regarding the Palestinian struggle legitimacy.

Apparently, China is hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for separate talks, showing a desire for a greater role in the region. The two leaders are due in Shanghai but will not coincide, as Netanyahu is due there on Wednesday, following Abbas’ departure a day earlier. China was looking forward to being able to organize an encounter and therefore to set up a meeting if the two men wanted. But understandably neither of them did. Even though the "Empire of the Centre" has traditionally maintained a low profile in the region, it has tried in recent years to play a more active role. Its diplomatic efforts were principally directed towards the economic sector, as well as to the quest for strategical resources, namely oil and gas. But, as of lately, China has also shown greater interest in playing a certain role in the political arena. The latter intention did not bode well when the state repeatedly opposed interna...

 Nearly no one liked him at home. He was hailed as a great political figure abroad, though. He spent all his life looking forward to becoming a prophet in his own country, but Palestinian hearts and minds are not that easy to win over. Last week and after months of political bickering and governmental stalemate, former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, handed in his resignation (although he has accepted to remain as caretaker PM) to a relieved Mahmoud Abbas. Indeed, everybody in Palestine and elsewhere was aware of the growing hatred each figure felt towards the other. They have publicly clashed many times, particularly over their respective powers or economic policies. The face-off reached unprecedented heights in recent weeks, coming to a head with the resignation of the Finance Minister Nabil Qassis, which was accepted by the Prime Minister (who coincidentally was previously in charge of the portfolio) but rejected by the President. Fayyad, a US-ed...

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, announced on 12 November during a LAS meeting that the request whereby the UN General Assembly would grant Palestine enhanced observer status would be formalized (and the vote would thus take place) today (29 November 2012, 65th anniversary of the UN partition resolution, "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People"). "The required simple majority is already guaranteed", an ecstatic Abbas told reporters in Cairo. Palestinian officials reckon the Resolution has nearly 60 co-sponsors and estimate at least 130 countries will vote for the proposal. EU member states will unsurprisingly find themselves, once again, divided, and their votes will surely follow the same direction as in the "UNESCO case" last year: 11 supported the entry of Palestine as a state, 5 opposed, and the remaining 11 abstained. One thing is for sure, and makes me really happy: Spain and France will vote ...