Alwaght- The Palestinian cause has undergone various changes after Donald Trump was elected as US president. Trump in December 2017 recognized al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of an Israeli regime, putting the final nail in the coffin of optimism of some Palestinians to reach a peace deal with Zionists.
Recently, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has released a statement calling on the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, as well as other Palestinian entities to cut off all r links on all levels, especially the political and security negotiations, with Tel Aviv.
The PLO is comprised of several Palestinian factions, with the Fatah movement, also led by Abbas, being the strongest party. The organization upon its establishing in the 1960s adopted an approach of armed struggle against the Israeli regime to liberate territories, but its stance changed after 1993, when Israelis and Palestinians signed Oslo Accords, a deal made some of the Palestinian sides to recognize the state of Israel. Since then, the PLO reviewed its armed battle strategy and moved to diplomatic efforts marked by US-brokered negotiations with Tel Aviv with.
Over the course of past two decades, all of the so-called peace negotiations were pressed ahead on the basis of the Oslo Accords, signed by the then-PLO head Yasser Arafat and the then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Now that Washington and Tel Aviv practically have no commitment to the Oslo accords, the question comes down that how the PLO will react as part of a plan to pick an alternative strategy?
Compromises inefficient in dealing with Tel Aviv
Since the Oslo peace talks to 2017 developments, the record of relations of the pro-compromise Palestinian groups with the Israelis has been riddled with the US violations and pledge breakings. Despite the various American abuses, the PLO, contrary to other groups such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad which insisted that resistance against occupation was the only way towards the liberation of Palestine, has been pursuing a course of political agreement with Tel Aviv and the US as the mediator.
A look at the present conditions of Palestinians makes it crystal clear that the Palestinian people are not even close to their basic rights and on the opposite side the Israeli regime, using an extremely aggressive approach against the Palestinians, has moved forward with its territorial expansion policy. The most noticeable breach of commitment by Tel Aviv is its ongoing settlement building projects.
The PLO decision to sever ties with Israeli regime comes from a belated understanding that over the past decades Israeli regime has taken advantage of negotiations to expand territorially without being checked by any Palestinian resistance. Israelis pushed to the sidelines the case of Palestine occupation as a highlighted international issue under the shadow of lack of any major conflict with the Palestinian side. Tel Aviv went forward to sow division between the Palestinian factions in a bid to impair the adamantly resistant groups. Using the US unwavering help, Tel Aviv has tried to, through expressing a will to negotiate, hide its barbarous side and depict itself as a pro-peace and dialogue party on the global stage. The Israelis’ focus over the past years was turning the talks into an erosive process to preclude the possibility of foundation of a Palestinian state.
Long years of absurd talks with the Israelis have now made clear the viability of the resistance approach over the compromising manners. The PLO decision to cut relations with the Israeli regime might also signal that this significant Palestinian faction is separating ways from the Saudi-led Arab bloc which is in favor of concessions to Tel Aviv.
The matter can rejuvenate the resistance discourse. After all, in the present conditions, the most troubling issue is the Palestinian sides’ lack of cohesion in the face of Tel Aviv. Trump government's recognition of al-Quds as a replacement for Tel Aviv and ordering arrangements to move the US embassy in the Israeli regime to the newly-recognized capital has made the ground ripe for the divided Palestinians to reunite. If the PLO stays firmly committed to its Israeli links cutting decision, there should be an expectation of a fresh wave of anti-Israeli standing and turning the page to a new chapter of Palestine cause.
Alternative strategy
Under the new situation, the different Palestinian factions can make an efficient whole with a reviewed approach. On the one hand, the PLO has a long record of international interactions and ally-making, a facility that could be applied to improve Palestinians’ position worldwide. On the other hand, such groups as Hamas and Islamic Jihad have honed their military skills after years of resistance in the face of Israeli regime, namely, resistance groups' military might is a wing that beside the PLO political wing can lead to a successful strategy in the face of Tel Aviv. Recent remarks and trips of Mahmoud Abbas bear witness to the theory that he is busy questing for new allies. He is now more than any other time frustrated with the Arab states’ support owing to their clandestine, and sometimes even open, advocacy to Trump’s al-Quds move. His last week’s Africa tour can be read as part of these efforts.
As many experts predicted, Trump’s highly miscalculated and abnormal move on the status of al-Quds has served the Palestinian advantages by building a strong front both inside Palestine and on the world arena against Tel Aviv.
At the time being, the PLO disappointment with negotiations is very important, because over years the Israelis have benefited from the talks. The current situation bears all signs of the obsoleteness of the pro-compromise attitude, and that only resistance choice can work. After all, the tenets of the Israelis political and security apparatuses lock onto full seizure of Palestine and negotiations only buy them time and help Tel Aviv gain international legitimacy.
