Hamas official: Unity gov't 'deliberately impeding' reconstruction
Published today (updated) 28/12/2014 17:47
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=750150

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq on Saturday
slammed the Palestinian national consensus government for failing to take
charge in the besieged coastal enclave, accusing it of "deliberately
impeding the reconstruction of Gaza Strip."

Abu Marzouq said that donor countries had stopped allocating money to Gaza
because of the lack of a "real government" to assume responsibilities, and
he placed the blame squarely on the Fatah-led PA authorities based in
Ramallah for refusing to carry out their responsibilities toward the Gaza
Strip in light of the coalition government.

The statements, which came during a panel organized Saturday evening by
trade unions in the central Gaza Strip, highlight growing anger in Gaza at
the slow pace of reconstruction and the lack of real change since a unity
government between Palestine's two rival parties was formed over summer.

Abu Marzouq placed the blame for the lack of progress squarely on the
shoulders of PA-based authorities, condemning their largesse while noting
their continued failure to pay the salaries of PA employees in Gaza on time.

"Despite the long strike by doctors and cleaning companies in Gaza, neither
president Mahmoud Abbas, nor the prime minister nor his deputy sympathized
with the crisis," he said, referencing a series of protests by medical
workers in the Strip angered at major delays in salary payments despite the
amount of over-time work they put in during Israel's nearly two-month long
summer assault.

He added that all government employees in Gaza, especially those in the
public works ministry, work in "complete honesty" and submit reports and
statistics to the national consensus government, all without being paid
properly.

"The answer which (Prime Minister) Rami Hamdallah always gives us is that
what is going on is political and needs to be solved by president Abbas,"
Abu Marzouq said.

But then why do cabinet ministers convene in Gaza "while the government
doesn't pay any allowances to the Gaza Strip such as civil servants'
salaries," he continued. "The last visit to Gaza cost 90,000 shekels
($23,000) including fuel for the ministers' vehicles."

"We can run the Gaza Strip if the government has cleared itself from its
responsibilities and rejected the reconciliation agreement. We are not
powerless to do that," he added.

Abu Marzouq's comments, including the veiled threat to dissolve the unity
government if the PA does not charge in Gaza, underscore the political
divide between Fatah and Hamas leaders regarding internal politics.

Hamas authorities have complained that despite the ceasefire agreement in
August in which Israel promised to ease the seven-year-old siege of Gaza,
neither the PA -- which maintains much closer contact with Israel -- nor the
international community have held Israel accountable and made this in
reality.

As a result, reconstruction for the 110,000 Palestinians left homeless by
Israel's summer offensive that also killed nearly 2,200 has hardly
progressed, while infrastructure remains in a dismal state.

UN draft a 'document of disgrace'

Abu Marzouq's comments, however, did not only focus on the unity
government's internal policies, but also extended to President Abbas'
campaign for a UN resolution confirming Palestinians statehood within the
1967 borders.

Speaking on the draft resolution the PLO submitted to the UN Security
Council, Abu Marzouq described the draft as "document of disgrace" which
undermines Palestinian rights. "And you still want us to back him!?"

"The Palestinian leadership has sold all the Palestinian rights and is ready
to make new concessions," he added.

The condemnation comes only a day after top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahhar
condemned the draft resolution as well, which he said sacrifices Palestinian
claims to lands lost in 1948 to Israel and is completely unacceptable.

Abu Marzouq also accused senior Fatah official of making false claims about
Gaza and trying to paint the Strip as a lawless den of terrorists.

"Member of the Fatah central committee Azzam al-Ahmad waved a piece of paper
on media outlets claiming it contains a list of criminals who carry out
bombings in Sinai Peninsula and run away into the Gaza Strip. We checked
with the Egyptians and they affirmed that Azzam al-Ahmad has no such a list
and the paper he waves is blank and empty."

The accusation is a serious one, particularly in light of Egypt's crackdown
on the Gaza border using accusations of Hamas collusion with anti-government
militant groups in the Sinai Peninsula, which Hamas strenuously denies.

The Fatah movement, however, did not stay silent in response to Abu
Marzouq's tirade, releasing a statement on Sunday accusing the Hamas
official of attempting to mislead public opinion.

"It is shameful for Abu Marzouq to continue to fabricate the facts. It is
done mainly to acquit yourself, your movement, and Israel from what is going
on in Gaza and take the easiest path by blaming the president, the Fatah
movement, and the government, as you always do," Fatah spokesman Osama
al-Qawasmi said in a statement.

It is Israel, he added, who besieges "our people in the beloved coastal
enclave" and Israel is the first and primary cause of our people's
"atrocities."

In addition, he said that Hamas is to a great extent responsible for
impeding the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip as Hamas gives Israel
the "justifications to impede reconstruction."

Al-Qawasmi went on to attack Abu Marzouq on a number of specific policies,
noting that Hamas had refused to give up control on Gaza crossings as agreed
"at the home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh."

They insisted on keeping their checkpoints, known as 4/4, "which collect
custom taxes for the reconstruction material which enters the Gaza Strip,"
he said.

"They also impose taxes on the goods which come from the West Bank, and the
only part of the reconciliation agreement they insist on is that the
consensus government should pay salaries to Hamas members. Everything else
is of no importance to them," he added.

"Abu Marzouq himself partook in the negotiations over the mechanism to ship
material for Gaza reconstruction and he himself approved the mechanism which
he now criticizes and blames the president and the government for."
________________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il

For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il

For free daily digest subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe-digest@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il

IMRA is now also on Twitter
http://twitter.com/IMRA_UPDATES