Walk With Your People

BEIRUT -- Three simultaneous developments related to the Gaza Strip earlier this week provide a historic and dramatic opportunity for Egypt and the Palestinians -- especially Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -- that should not be missed.

The three developments were:

• the Egyptian government's talks with Hamas and Fateh about re-organizing the Rafah border crossings with Gaza that were breached by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians last month;
• President Abbas' visit to Cairo for talks on the subject; and,
• the Israeli Supreme Court decision to allow the state to reduce deliveries of electricity and fuel to Gaza as a means of pressuring the population to reject Hamas and return to the rule of Abbas' Fateh party.

Mahmoud Abbas has an opportunity to act as a real leader, but his window to move is very small. He has been in Egypt talking with President Husni Mubarak about how the Egyptian and Palestinian presidents and their vast security forces could collectively serve Israeli and American political interests by sealing the Gaza-Egypt border. At the same time, tens of thousands of ordinary Palestinians continue to move between Gaza and the Egyptian Sinai.

Abbas should take advantage of the one Palestinian border point that is not controlled by Israel, and join the flow of other ordinary Palestinians returning to Gaza from Egypt -- preferably on foot, but if he wishes by car, or even on one of those nifty donkey- or horse-drawn carts. He should walk to Gaza to share the pain of living in the harsh conditions that Israel is imposing on the region, in order to send a powerful message to four distinct audiences.

To the Palestinian people first and foremost, he would send the message that he is the president of all Palestinians, and that despite a severe ideological feud with Hamas he wishes to be the symbol of unity among all Palestinians. He would make the point that he is the leader of the Palestinian people, not the errand boy of the Israeli or American security services. He would also make it clear that Palestinians and Egyptians can jointly control their common border to allow normal life to return to Gaza's 1.5 million people.

To the Israeli government and people, he would send the message that the Palestinian leadership and people are united, and that Israel cannot play off one group of Palestinians against another either by starving one or by offering the other material bribes like VIP travel passes, military assistance, and money.

To the American and European governments -- who support the Israeli attempt to destroy Hamas by backing Abbas -- he would send the message that the Palestinian people will not engage in a foreign-fuelled civil war, despite the Fateh-Hamas feud. He could force foreign governments to reconsider their boycott of Hamas, by resuming talks to form a national unity government. Hamas and Fateh both would have to admit their recent mistakes, and work closely with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others to form a single government.

To the Arab people and leaders, he would provide a stunning example of solidarity and sacrifice in the face of Israel's pressures. The message would be elegantly simple: The Arab world should support the Palestinians, not implement Israeli-American orders.

The Israeli Supreme Court ruling gives the green light for Israel to reduce the flow of electricity from Israel, cut gasoline supplies to Gaza to 75,400 liters a week (vs. 400,000 liters a week in October), and reduce diesel fuel shipments from 1.4 million to 800,000 liters. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said ten days ago that Gazans without gasoline for their cars could walk.

Mahmoud Abbas had a meeting in Jerusalem last week with Olmert, then went to Cairo for talks with the Egyptians. He should leave Cairo and go to the Gaza border point at Rafah, and from there send a message to Olmert with his feet, by doing exactly what Olmert suggested: He should walk into Gaza, like most Palestinians have to walk rather than ride cars due to the Israeli cutbacks on essential supplies of fuel, power, food and medicine.

Abbas is the elected president of the Palestinians, not the viceroy of the Israelis or the deputy sheriff of the Americans. He is now confronted with a situation in which he can choose to achieve three important simultaneous goals: He can share the pain of his fellow Palestinians in Gaza, provide an opening for reconciliation and national unity talks with Hamas, and symbolically affirm that he is the president of all Palestinians and not just a political hit-man for Olmert and the American government.

President Abbas, your people tore down the Israeli wall that confined you along with them. Now is the time for you to walk with your people, to show that you are their president, not their jailer.