On the Accusations of Treason in the Palestinian Arena

Whenever someone criticizes the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement, and discusses issues of corruption and negligence, or criticizes the nature of their relationship with Israel, the Authority and Fatah respond by accusing these critics of being agents for Israel and antagonistic to the national project. Likewise, whenever opposing voices rise against Hamas, blaming it for the division and the consequences of its deluge, and commenting on the situation in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and its supporters respond that these voices are traitorous and serve Israel's policies, without either side (Fatah and Hamas) realizing that these critical voices express the opinions of the majority of the people who feel the extent of the destruction and devastation and the regression of the Palestinian cause, whether in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, and indeed concerning the entire national issue.

Not everyone who criticizes and opposes and exposes the errors and transgressions of both sides is a traitor or a spy, but rather it is a cry of pain and anger from the son of the West Bank, who sees the leaders of the Authority and Fatah living in their ivory towers, showcasing themselves through satellite channels and social media, while the enemy steals his land, demolishes his house, and restricts his means of living without the Authority doing anything to protect him and prevent Israeli assaults. It is a cry of pain and anger from the son of Gaza who has been subjected and continues to be subjected to a war of extermination, death, destruction, starvation, disease, and the danger of displacement outside the Strip, while the movement's leaders abroad live a luxurious life in hotels and villas in Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and other countries without Hamas and its weapons being able to protect him, let alone protect its members in the Strip. It is a cry of anger and pain from the Palestinian people in exile about what the entire Palestinian situation has come to and the neglect of half of the population living in the diaspora waiting for a return to the homeland, even to a state on part of it.

But is there clear and confirmed treason on either side of the Palestinian equation: Fatah along with the organization and the Authority on one side, and Hamas and the resistance factions on the other?

There is certainly incompetence, failure, miscalculation, and mismanagement on both sides, whether it pertains to managing the political settlement process and negotiations and the management of the Authority for the first side, or managing the issue of armed resistance and the management of Gaza Strip for the second side, and the failure of both sides in reconciliation talks and achieving national unity.

However, the PLO and Fatah did not commit treason when they signed the Oslo Agreement, or when the Authority was established, nor even in security coordination with Israel. Rather, historical circumstances must be taken into account when Oslo was signed, which came immediately after two major events; the first is global, namely the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist camp, and the second is a regional Arab one, namely the Gulf War and the financial and political siege of the PLO. They failed in their bets on the Israeli partner in the settlement process, especially after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, and failed in their bet on the American mediator, just as they failed in managing the Authority transparently and in facing some corrupt and opportunistic individuals who climbed to leadership positions in the Authority. The official leadership also failed to create a consensus within the PLO or between it and Hamas and the other resistance factions, and while there may be traitorous and spying individuals who assisted the occupation in implementing its schemes, the Fatah movement in general, which has fought the occupation for nearly sixty years inside and outside Palestine, and which has offered hundreds of thousands of martyrs, wounded, and prisoners, including its early leaders, cannot be accused of treason or of compromising the Palestinian right. The same applies to the other factions of the PLO.

The same applies to the resistance factions, especially Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front; they did not emerge from a treacherous position against Palestine and its people, as they fought battles against the enemy and offered thousands of martyrs, wounded, and prisoners from their ranks and leadership. Rather, the error and flaw were in their miscalculations, particularly regarding Hamas— which frequently uses the term treachery and collaboration with Israel to accuse those who are not with it—who was lured by Israel from the beginning along with the Islamic Bloc to be in hostility with the PLO to undermine the unity of the Palestinian people. They failed in their bets and went wrong when they stood against the Palestinian national project and accused the organization and Fatah of treason, tying themselves to the Muslim Brotherhood and then to Iran and its axis, just as they failed in their approach to resistance and in managing the Gaza Strip.

It is true that in terms of outcomes, the results of both sides' approaches—in terms of failure in the options of political settlement based on Oslo and failure in the approach of armed resistance as exercised by Hamas—are not less serious than the act of treason, and there is a fine line between treason and wrong interpretations of national destiny.

When we exclude treason from parties and factions in general—while not excluding it from individuals who may be in advanced positions in their parties and Authority and should be prosecuted—so that the Palestinian people and their historical struggle are not distorted and the people are not held responsible for what is happening, especially since accusations of treason are promoted and amplified by Israeli and Arab media platforms and social networks to cast doubt on the entire Palestinian people and the justice of their cause, not just the leadership; and these mutual accusations opened the door for non-Palestinians to classify Palestinians into national and traitorous, while we also keep an opportunity for rapprochement and reconciliation among the parties, even if the people have lost confidence in them; for no reconciliation will succeed between a national party and a treacherous party.

This distortion of the Palestinian people and their struggle is the responsibility of the parties, so they must change their political discourse and stop accusing those who disagree with them of treason, as all of them stand on the thresholds of treason if we evaluate them in terms of the outcomes of their practices and approaches.