Quo The Status

From one triumph to the next, the Palestinians are showing the world what determination and a fine grasp on the fundamentals of public relations can produce for the practitioner of everlasting victimhood.  Compassionate empathy and the power of the Muslim/Arab bloc's UN domination of the energy file, along with those of human rights and entitlements succeeded in producing the nomenclature and status that Mahmoud Abbas craved.

Hamas mounted its triumphant parade in the West Bank with the courteous permission of Fatah, and Fatah followed by mounting its celebratory and self-congratulatory parade in Gaza with the diplomatic permission of Hamas.  Hamas celebrated its triumph in Gaza over the IDF that aerial-shelled the hell out of them while they returned the compliment by lobbing Kassams over the border into Israel; an unusual display of tit-for-tat by Israel; business as usual by Hamas.

For Fatah the occasion was Mahmoud Abbas's well-designed and -enacted United Nations' General Assembly speech, a fiery declaration of defiance against the brutality of occupying Israel, seeking to commit the horrors of genocide against peace-loving and -deserving Palestinians.  A speech that garnered him the support he required for the second-best national status he desired as an inroad to further mischief on the diplomatic front.

But ... oops, something went awry.  Goodness gracious, it is not only bad feeling to put it lightly between Hamas and Fatah that so often upends plans for the future, but on this grand occasion where 'hundreds of thousands' of Fatah supporters showed up in Gaza on Friday, Fatah factions themselves were at loggerheads.  Witnesses spoke of pushing matches between those who support Mr. Abbas and those loyal to Mohammed Dahlan, formerly security commander of Gaza.

Waving national flags (R) and Fatah's yellow banners, hundreds of thousands of supporters of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's party held on January 4, 2013 their first mass rally in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007. Hamas, in a sign of reconciliation with Fatah, permitted the rally to go ahead as the climax of a week of Gaza festivities celebrating the 48th anniversary of Fatah taking up arms against Israel.
(MOHAMMED ABED - AFP/Getty Images)

The big show that must go on did not, alas.  Disappointing the throngs who had come out in their numbers to ogle the entertainment and proudly hold aloft Fatah flags.  The commemoration ceremonies of Fatah's 1965 founding were as far as things progressed.  Additional planned speeches and all the musical performances were, sadly, summarily cancelled.

A funny thing happened on the way to the declaration of statehood; in case anyone missed it the West Bank is no longer that, but 'The State of Palestine' for the Palestinian Authority chief, Mr. Abbas has so declared it.  Even more peculiar, the Palestinian Authority despite the authority vested in it and the countless billions it has received through UNRWA and the EU and other charitable agencies, never did get around to planning and forming the apparatus of a working state.

So, then, Mahmoud Abbas has declared the West Bank/Gaza to be officially "Palestine", the proud new state.  But oops, although all official documents will reflect that new reality there are no state institutions to accompany the state-building such as infrastructure for health and education, energy and security, trade and investment, and above all - the finalization of a peace agreement with Israel to put the final stamp in the UN on nationhood.

Reliance on employment through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency remains the order of the day.  What's more, the PA's financial situation is in a parlous state.  With the Palestinian prime Minister Salam Fayyed bemoaning the fact that his self-rule government is on the verge of economic collapse.  Evidently Arab countries that were swift to pledge financial support have somehow failed to do so.

Because of the financial situation Mr. Fayyad fully expects the percentage of the West Bank's four million population considered to be the Palestinian "poor" to rise to the 50% level.  It could certainly be ameliorated hugely by establishing trust and peace and two states side by side with Israel, so that the advanced economy there could assist its neighbour in developing its own manufacturing base and labour market.