Aiding Palestinians Without Helping Hamas: A Difficult Task

By Victor Comras

Can Pressure be maintained on Hamas without unduly harming the Palestinian People? This is the question being addressed by the Quartet (UN, US, EU, and Russia) as it seeks some mechanism to channel aid to the Palestinians without strengthening the position of its Hamas government. The Quartet reportedly agreed May 9th to a suggestion put forth by the EU to seek to develop a temporary plan to funnel humanitarian assistance through channels that bypass Hamas. According to the official statement issued at the end of the meeting, the provision of this assistance would be dependent upon its being “limited in scope and duration, operating with full transparency and accountability, and ensuring direct delivery of assistance to the Palestinian people.” It would be reviewed after three months to determine its effectiveness. The decision to move forward on such planning came after day long consultations hosted by Kofi Annan, which included meetings also with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who attended the Quartet meeting told the International press that “What we propose is to have a meeting of experts as soon as possible in Brussels in order to really draw up the parameters. And thus, of course, try to get this together as speedily as possible. But of course, since it is not an easy mechanism, it’s not a matter of days. But I do hope it’s a matter of weeks.” In the meantime provision is being made to get needed humanitarian and medical aid to the Palestianian territory. For its part the United States has indicated it will go ahead with a $10 million in kind donation of needed hospital equipment.

Israel has reportedly indicated its interest also in using such a channel, if it can be developed, to pass back the revenues it has collected on behalf the Palestinian Authority. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni welcomed the Quartet plan. She indicated that it was Israel’s understanding that the Quartet plan did not include PA president Mahmoud Abbas as a conduit for the money. Abbas, she said, already has access to funds that he continues to withhold from the Hamas controlled Palestinian Authority.

The Hamas leadership apparently still doesn’t have a clue as to what this all signals. The Palestinian Authority’s Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haneya, expressed anger that the Quartet was seeking to bypass his government. He called the ploy harmful to Palestinian interests. At the other end of the spectrum, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat , a Fatah member, hailed the Quartet decision as a breakthrough on relief for the Palestinian people. "We would wait to see the essence of that mechanism and the nature of aid, but the most essential thing is delivering it," Erekat said.

The devil in developing this program will certainly be in working out the details. But, one additional aspect that must be considered is the nature, scope and extent of other assistance currently being channeled to, and through, the Hamas government. It is one thing for the quartet to divert assistance around Hamas in order to help the Palestinian people. It is quite different if the result is simply to lessen Hamas payroll burdens so as to permit it to sustain itself with other sources of funding. One would hope that such matters will also play a role in determining how to proceed with this assistance. So far, there is no commitment from Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other potential Hamas donors, to desist from continuing to channel financial and other aid directly to the Hamas government.

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