Discovering MENA and other thoughts

"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.

What's the first image that pops up in your mind when you think about Hamas? Dark-suited bearded men shouting and ranting? Hooded youths hoisting flags and marching on the street? Well, that may be changing, because the Islamist militant group has appointed a spokesperson different than what people in the streets are used to. It's an British-educated cultivated former presenter of Iranian state-run English news channel who wears colored clothes and often smiles into the wind. This person is 23 years old, has a child and has already divorced once. And it's a lady. Her name is Israa Al-Moudallal, and she takes pride in being the first woman to hold the position of spokesperson concerning relations with international media, a hard task taking into account Hamas' disadvantageous situation .

Last July I wrote about the several Tamarrod-style copycat movements that had been created throughout the Arab world inspired by their Egyptian brethren with the aim of protesting against the governments in power and in favour of the granting of further rights. One of the most active ones has surprisingly proven to be the Tamarrod Gaza movement, silently formed in the street against what some consider a status quo controlled by Hamas that is growing authoritarian by the day. Several small scale protests have been taken place in the tiny territory throughout recent weeks, but the demonstration most organisers hoped to represent a real breakthrough was scheduled for November 11, a key date for all inhabitants of the Strip. Indeed, las Monday was the anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, founder of Hamas rival Fatah, a date revered by all Palestinians that in the past has also been an occasion for protests.

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.

 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...

I am aware this article may spur some heated mixed reactions, but sometimes this is what a blog is for. I dedicate it to my good friend Maher, who (from the very beginning!) has shown me the true meaning of feeling Palestinian. This week  French prosecutors opened a murder enquiry into Yasser Arafat’s 2004 death, apparently after Arafat’s family (notably his widow Suha) launched legal action in the country over claims the veteran Palestinian leader died of polonium (a famous poison, especially after having been allegedly used to murder Russian opposition leader Alexander Litvinenko). The eventual rabbit's pulling out of the hat comes after a popular Al-Jazeera's investigation in which experts said they found high levels of polonium on his personal effects (particularly on his beloved keffiyeh), a theory apparently confirmed by a Swiss laboratory. Other hypotheses have been proposed (like this one in  Le Monde ) in the meantime. Fo...