Political drum beats

Political drum beats

Boy scouts drummed and marched, filling the air in Ramallah with smiles today. Children watched on in amusement, unbothered by the gloomy political atmosphere in the country.

Al-Manara Square, Ramallah’s hallmark roundabout, was joyous for an hour. Members of the mobile circus put on a show that had a few dozen children giggling. And passersby took a break from their daily routine to look on.

It was an art show of solidarity with Occupied East Jerusalem - where the show was carried next - and the boy scout drums in Ramallah saw them off.

Drums of another kind

These days one can almost hear another drumbeat, ushering in an important event – the much awaited speech by the Palestinian president to the nation. Many hope it will be a significant step towards healing from the Goldstone controversy, which began a week ago. Everyone wants to hear what Mr. Abbas has to say, hoping they will hear answers, not justifications, and an admission of guilt, not the dodging of responsibility.

The Palestinian president suffered the heaviest blow from this affair. For the most part, he stayed silent and away from the country for a week after the controversy rocked his nation. And accusations that increasingly took a personal tone kept pouring in on Palestinian, pan-Arab, and international media outlets. People believe the speech is his chance to answer back. And they want to hear him out.  

It was a political bomb shell. News leaks from Israel “revealing” that Palestinians supported the withdrawal of a resolution that would have endorsed the Goldstone Report on the war on Gaza at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  

And it hit Palestinians from all walks of life and political affiliations like a bolt of lightning, inviting outrage from all political directions, including Abbas’s own Fatah movement. We had nothing to do with this, Fatah leaders declared. “We were not consulted.”

But in the context of the on-going political division, this event served as more fuel for the bitter fire that has ravaged the Palestinian political body for almost three years. Reports now suggest Egypt has accepted a Hamas request to delay the signing ceremony of a unity deal all factions have already agreed on. The reason given? The public anger over the Goldstone controversy.

Conclusion: One more blow to Palestinian morale and an extension to the debilitating weakness Palestinians have suffered since this division started.

Questions, not answers

From the onset, everyone has been asking: Why? Why would Palestinians defer the endorsement of a report that accuses Israel of committing war crimes?

But the report also investigated the actions of Palestinian factions in Gaza, lead by Hamas. And it concluded that the firing of rockets on Israeli towns from Gaza could be a war crime. Yet, all Palestinian factions, along with the Presidency, had endorsed the report.

This is an unprecedented endorsement in the history of the Palestinian national struggle. Never before had Palestinians accepted a legal argument that accuses any faction of committing war crimes.  

But this was all irrelevant to the debate following the controversy.

The deferral was a political disaster. Because until a few hours before the news broke, Palestinian officials spoke about unwavering support for the endorsement of the Goldstone Report.

Editorials in the Palestinian dailies are adding to the drumbeats. Columnists are drawing conclusions from this unprecedented political crisis. And the genuine calls for reform are almost deafening. This is one political bind that can’t be shrugged off or buried under the carpet – the good old way. Questions will be asked and convincing answers are required.

This does not mean Palestinians expect the president, who is ultimately responsible, to be deposed or even to resign. They want something far more in-depth; a revelation of how advice was given and influence exercised. And why were long-established decision-making processes in Palestinian politics ignored?

In a few days, Palestinians will be back at the UN Human Rights Council supporting the draft resolution they backed deferring a week before. In a Special Emergency Session, Palestine will now ask the world to endorse the Goldstone Report. It’s believed there are enough votes to secure endorsement.

This could be an important element in the leadership’s admission of culpability; a way to help repair the unparalleled domestic damage the deferral caused. And a clear statement that international pressure cannot carry more weight than overwhelming public sentiment. One lesson learned.   

In Arab world politics, an admission of responsibility by a senior official is almost unheard of, more so from a president. But this is Palestine. Its stormy and multi-faceted political life has long broken the rules of “Arab politics” as no official is ever spared from scathing criticism. No one is immune from political attack.

What about accountability? That’s another story. The coming days will reveal if a new standard is set in this regard.

For now, the drums keep beating in anticipation.