 February 2005
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Abu Mazen's Greater Jihad Daoud Kuttab is director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in Ramallah. This article was published on www.amin.org on January 14, 2005 and is distributed by the Common Ground News Service, www.commongroundnews.org. I participated in the Palestinian presidential elections very early on January 9. I drove to the village of Anata just outside the municipal borders of Jerusalem, showed them my ID card, got my right hand thumb inked and was given a ballot which I used to cast my vote.
The ink, which some claimed could be easily removed, has stayed on my thumb for a week. Not that it bothered me. Instead, I used it as a badge of honor, showing it off to relatives and friends in Amman and even in Beirut. I believe that January 9 will be as important for the Palestinians as Sept. 11 was for Americans. It will be remembered as the date which has legally and popularly ushered in a new political era for Palestinians. The results Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen is an honorific] accomplished (both in votes received and turnout) confirm his important political role in the post-Arafat era. Palestinians have been hailing this date as a festival of democracy. Many praised the tenacity and persistence of the many Palestinians insisting on voting despite the occupation and the checkpoints (in spite of the false claims by Israel that it would ease restrictions). While visiting Lebanon this week, I met with Talal Salman, the editor of the left-wing daily As-Safir. I found him, like many other Arabs, to be very impressed with how Palestinians handled themselves during the elections. Abu Mazen's era will clearly be a challenging one. I was impressed by his statement during the victory speech, in which he said that the small jihad is over and now the greater jihad is upon us. I was waiting to see if Fox TV or William Safire will pounce on Abu Mazen without even knowing what is meant by this statement. In Islam, the smaller jihad is the military jihad against the enemies of God, while the greater jihad (or struggle) is the internal jihad. By running and winning the elections on a platform of nonviolence and against military acts, Abu Mazen has, in his own eyes, overcome the smaller jihad and has promoted himself to the much more difficult, greater, jihad. It is the difficult soul searching in which you have to struggle with yourself. I am sure that the greater jihad for Abu Mazen will mean having to decide in favor of the greater interest of the Palestinian people. That decision could come sooner than many people think. Abbas' next steps will be to secure a firm ceasefire agreement, which for the Palestinians will mean a stoppage of attacks against Israelis. There are at least two things in favor of Abu Mazen's efforts to produce an effective quiet from the Islamists. His strong victory on a high turnout has made it clear that the vast majority of Palestinians support his political platform. It is very important to note that during the election campaign Abbas refused to back down on his demands for an end to the militarization of the Intifada, and refused to apologize for his criticism of the rocket attacks. Noticing the high turnout and the strong mandate that he got, some of the Islamic leaders began publicly casting doubt on the validity of the elections. But a senior Hamas leader, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, rejected these calls by saying that Hamas respects the results of the elections and the will of the people. Another item in favor of Abu Mazen is the carrot of the legislative elections. The elections for the next Palestinian parliament, now scheduled for July, is very attractive to the Islamic groups, especially Hamas. They have already encouraged all their supporters to register and did reasonably well in the first round of the local elections. The result of these elections has whetted their political appetite and they seem poised to participate in full force in the elections this summer. Many things can happen between now and July, and they are not all within the ability of the Palestinian leadership to control. Provocations in the form of further Israeli assassinations or incursions can easily turn a period of quiet on the part of the Palestinians into violence. Splinter groups might also want to mess up any understanding reached between Abu Mazen and the Islamic groups. While these groups might go along with Abbas' proposed ceasefire, it might take a long time before they officially commit themselves. A deadline for clear answers will probably be demanded by Abu Mazen in negotiations with the Islamic groups. The tolerance level will be close to zero after such a date elapses. If Abu Mazen's efforts at producing a reasonable period of quiet begins to fail, this will be the time that his inner soul will be challenged.
Will he be able to stay neutral if the Islamic
and radical militants violate understandings or will he find enough
inner strength (the greater jihad) to do what is in the supreme
interest of the Palestinian people, even if it means having to
be tough with the militants? 
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