Palestinian groups unite under ‘Beijing Declaration’

Alameen Templeton

Fourteen Palestinian groups including Hamas and Fatah have signed an agreement under China’s watchful eye to establish an “interim national reconciliation government” to govern Gaza and the West Bank after the genocide

The groups agreed to include all Palestinian factions within the framework of the PLO to achieve national unity and a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The right of all Palestinian refugees to return is a fundamental principle enshrined in the agreement.

The deal follows three days of gruelling discussions in Beijing after China stepped in to help add some cohesiveness, direction and purpose to Palestinian efforts to hold onto some semblance of self-determination and shared principles as their land under US “leadership” is pulverised into rubble and gore, with nothing but death, genocide and more war, war, war on the horizon.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a sideswipe at America’s partisan role in the genocide that has given Israel all the weapons and international support it needs to continue the 291 days of atrocity.

“Reconciliation is an internal matter for the Palestinian factions, but at the same time, it cannot be achieved without the support of the international community,” he said.

China, he said, was determined to “play a constructive role in safeguarding peace and stability in the Middle East”.

That’s bound to set alarm bells clanging in Washington that has become accustomed to unrivalled “leadership” or control of all major issues in Arabia.

Anadolu Agency says the groups agreed on “uniting national efforts” to stop the Zionist genocide and to resist attempts to expel Palestinians from their lands.

Al-Mayadeen reports Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was at pains to emphasise it rejected any reference or notions in the agreement that Israel is a real country. It remained adamant that the land is Palestine suffering under a state of occupation that Zionists called “Israel”.

PIJ also called on the PLO (yes, it still exists as the negotiating organisation that interacts with the “international community” on a diplomatic level; Fatah is its armed wing) to withdraw is recognition under the “Oslo Peace Accord” (OPA) of “Israel”.

The agreement Tuesday follows an April reconciliation meeting in Beijing between Hamas and Fatah to end 17 years of enmity.

Fatah leads the Palestinian Authority which was supposed to an interim Palestinian government under the OPA that would hand over leadership to an elected one. However, when Hamas won elections in 2006, the Zionists and Western countries refused to accept the outcome and ostracised Hamas under a flurry of sanctions instead. Hamas in response threw the Zionists out of Gaza and took control of the enclave while Fatah held onto the West Bank. As the Gaza siege and Partition behind the Wall took hold, so too mistrust and infighting deepened divisions between Hamas and Fatah.

Israel did its best to make the divide permanent on the ground while US leadership on the international stage widened the gulf as it piled on sanctions against Hamas and doled out cash and backslaps to the PLO/Fatah.

The US and Israel ensured the two remained bitter enemies until the genocide broke out on October 7. A horrified world has looked on the unfolding mess with a growing sense of repugnance while the Zionists and the allies have insisted the genocidal madness continue.

That undeniable repugnance has opened the door to Chinese intervention and it is clear Beijing is determined to put a firm hand onto the Arabian steering wheel that has remained stuck in one direction to oblivion and death under US leadership.

Last year, Beijing got Saudi Arabia and Iran talking for the first time in seven years after they had cut ties in 2016 when US president Donald Trump threw the nuclear deal into the dustbin.

Several deals grew out of the agreement under Chinese leadership to restore relations after a long, adversarial relationship that saw them on opposite sides in two violent conflicts, Syria and Yemen, and supporting opposing sides across the region.

The US Institute for Peace described the deal as “a momentous development in the region” and “a diplomatic win for China as it increasingly seeks to present an alternative vision to the US-led global order”.

The April meeting between Hamas and Fatah demonstrated clearly Beijing had not given up on its Arabian ambitions.

April seeds started sprouting in May when Hamas sources announced the movement was prepared to show flexibility over future governance of Gaza as long as it was a Palestinian agreement, not one imposed by the US or Israel.

That led to today’s agreement.

Meanwhile, US dithering on a peace deal that it could enforce at a moment’s notice remains stuck between a geriatric president, a party with no candidate and a crucial election in November destined to be won by a demagogue. No one’s really expecting much from the left side of the Atlantic.