On February 8, 2007, after years of intense conflict and bloodshed among Palestinians, the two rival factions—Fatah and Hamas—agreed to sign the Mecca Agreement. This historic accord was brokered under the auspices of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Financial support was extended to ensure the effective implementation of the agreement. Key participants in these talks included Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammed Dahlan from Fatah, and Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal from Hamas. Four pivotal agreements emerged from these discussions. The first: halting and preventing further bloodshed among Palestinians and unifying the stance against occupation through dialogue to resolve political differences. Second, forming a Palestinian unity government. Third, revitalizing and reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, and accelerating the efforts of the Preparatory Committee in line with the Cairo and Damascus agreements. And fourth: upholding the principle of political partnership based on existing Palestinian Authority laws, emphasizing political pluralism. Despite the prevailing optimism at the conference and the robust support from sponsor parties, tensions between Fatah and Hamas persisted. Merely weeks later, Hamas staged a coup against the Palestinian Authority and seized control of the Gaza Strip, rendering the Mecca Agreement seemingly ineffective. In 2009, Egyptian mediation attempted to reconcile the factions, giving rise to the Egyptian Paper, followed by the Cairo Agreement in 2011. Yet, these efforts too yielded no meaningful results. The Doha Agreement in 2012, facilitated by the former emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, sought to accelerate Palestinian national reconciliation. This was succeeded by the Beach Camp Agreement in 2014—so named for the dialogue sessions held at Ismail Haniyeh’s residence in Gaza’s Beach Camp. The negotiators agreed to form a Palestinian consensus government and conduct elections within six months, a promise that fell through. Accusations continued to be exchanged between the factions, perpetuating the division. In October 2017, the Cairo Agreement emerged yet again, where both parties agreed to empower the Government of National Accord, led by Rami Hamdallah, to assume full responsibilities in Gaza. They also agreed for the Presidential Guard to oversee the crossings and the Rafah border with Egypt. However, the division remained unchanged. And now, in 2024, driven by urgency in light of the ongoing atrocities by the Israeli military and the relentless war on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack, the Palestinian factions have turned their hopes to Beijing. They are seeking to sign yet another agreement, the Beijing Declaration, hoping this agreement will finally succeed where others failed. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that skepticism abounds regarding the Beijing Declaration. The Mecca Agreement, signed in the holiest site on Earth, was not honored. Neither were the 13 subsequent agreements over the years. Will the Beijing Agreement be any different, especially if it is written in Chinese, adding to the bewilderment? As always, only time will tell. —Faisal Mohammed bin Sabt (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
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