Israel offers amnesty to boost Fatah
In a bid to strengthen Fatah against Islamic militant group Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rewarded the Abbas government on Monday with amnesty to 178 fugitives.
from the July 17, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
With an agenda set according to the whims of local cells of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades throughout the Palestinian territories, the Fatah militias have helped ratchet up violence with Israel and sow lawlessness among Palestinians. If Abbas can dismantle militants loyal to his own party, it will make it easier for him to extend the moratorium on violence to small, more disparate groups.
"If they present it as a way to end the militias and put them under the apparatus of the [Palestinian Authority] security services – meaning that it is an attempt to clean the Palestinian house – then it will be received well by the public because they haven't been in favor of all the militias," says Jamil Rabah, a Ramallah-based pollster.
Though some are considered criminals who armed themselves under the guise of fighters in the Palestinian uprising, many of the Al Aqsa Brigade commanders included in the amnesty deal are seen as grass-roots leaders in the struggle against Israel.
Signing those militants on to a non-violence pledge bolsters support of Abbas among figures within his own party who have the popular standing akin to that of local folk heroes.
"The Al Aqsa Brigades activists have signed a pledge to cease attacks against Israel," said Zakaria Zubeidi, a popular Al Aqsa leader from the West Bank city of Jenin who was on Israel's most-wanted list as a terrorist. Mr. Zubeidi was granted amnesty as part of the deal, according to the Palestinian Maan news agency. "Al Aqsa Brigades won't be an obstacle to any political project aimed at solving the Palestinian question," he said.
To be sure, the steps are modest, and the likely usefulness in bolstering Abbas and Fatah against Hamas are far from certain.
"The amnesty is part of one package of Israeli measures, along with the prisoner release. But if you look at that one, it's very small, it's not the big fish," says Yossi Alpher, who helps edit the online journal Bitterlemons.org, which covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Yes, it's small potatoes, but the question is can Olmert keep up a string of such measures to build up Abbas, and can Abbas use them to improve security in a way that's visible to Israelis. I'm hopeful, but pessimistic."
In an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz newspaper published on Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad insisted that the gestures were not sufficient to revive the momentum for peace, and that only negotiations could restore the Palestinian public's faith in diplomacy.
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