Hamas ja Fatah: koostöölepe ja mõju Palestiina poliitilistele protsessidele

Abstract

The question of Israel and Palestinians has been a burning one for over 60 years. Having its roots in the post II World War era the problem is hard to solve due to its complex nature, several hard to compromise issues and distrust between the sides. The main sticking points dividing the Jews and the Palestinians are the question of East-Jerusalem, continued settlement building and planning on the West-Bank by the Israelis, blockade of Gaza and the refugee problem. The main political forces of the Palestinian National Authority have been divided since 2006 when after the elections differences between Hamas and Fatah broke out, which led to a power-struggle. After intense firefighting the Gaza sector became controlled by an Islamist movement called Hamas while the West-bank stayed under the control of the more pragmatic and secular Fatah. While the two sides have decided to reconcile due to the peace negotiations between Palestinian Liberation Organization (headed by Fatah) and the Israeli government leading nowhere, Hamas still holds to their vision of not recognizing Israel’s right to exist and is willing to use more radical measures to achieve their goals. Since Israel is the de-facto force on the ground, it often chooses to act in a way which is considered hostile and wrong by the Palestinians and in the majority of the cases by the international community as well. Israelis defend their actions by claiming that these kinds of measures are necessary to ensure the security of its people. While it is somewhat understandable due to claims by Hamas made towards Israel and its people, the Israeli reactions and measures have been too extreme as has been constantly stated by the UN and the international community. Israeli government does not seem to be in a hurry to compromise or find a solution to the problem due to constant settlement advancement and limited international pressure. The Palestinians are in a difficult position – on one hand there seems to be no initiative from Israel to continue trying for a peaceful solution to the problem, so for Fatah pushing for a unity government with Hamas would at least unite the Palestinian people under common leadership. On the other hand accepting unity government between Fatah and a terrorist organization Hamas would hinder any chances of stronger international pressure on Israel which would seem to be the only way to end the conflict.