President Abu Mazen .. What Reconciliation Do You Want??

Writer: Mohamed Bassam Joudah

Undoubtedly, Palestinian reconciliation is a legitimate right and a national duty that everyone seeks and demands. Internal reconciliation within the Fatah movement is also required and necessary, especially in light of the unprecedented complexities and challenges facing the Palestinian cause.

But the question that imposes itself is... what kind of reconciliation is President Mahmoud Abbas talking about? And based on what criteria and conditions?

In my opinion, it is no longer realistic to treat reconciliation as merely a requirement imposed by the current phase or as a ready-made recipe to save the national situation. This path has been tested at more than one juncture, and numerous agreements, understandings, and initiatives have been held, but they have not succeeded in ending the division or producing a genuine political partnership.

Therefore, the anticipated reconciliation needs, first and foremost, to redefine its concept... Is it a genuine national reconciliation based on partnership and the rebuilding of the political system on democratic foundations, or is it merely a rearrangement of relations within the existing system that preserves the current balance of power and interests?

In my opinion, the problem is not the absence of a desire for reconciliation, but rather the criteria upon which it is built, the entity that determines its conditions, and the political goal that is sought to be achieved through it.

Therefore, I do not place much hope on any talk of reconciliation unless it is accompanied by a serious and courageous review of the reasons for the failure of previous attempts, addressing the roots of the division, and opening the door for genuine political partnership, not selective reconciliation that reproduces the same reality under new names and arrangements.

If reconciliation is proposed from within a worn-out political system and under the same conditions that produced the crisis, and is managed in a way that ultimately serves the party or personal interests of those holding the reins of official Palestinian decision-making, then it will not be a real breakthrough but rather a recycling of the crisis under the banner of reconciliation.

I believe that what is required is not just reconciliation between the conflicting parties, but also reconciliation with the idea of national partnership itself, a reconciliation that restores the value of institutions, democracy, and the people as the source of legitimacy, placing national interest above the interests of individuals, factions, and leaderships in the size of a nation.