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 Just
a little over a year has elapsed since Hamas won the controversial
elections for the Palestinian parliament, but by the signing
of the Mecca Agreement, it must now be celebrating its ultimate
victory against all odds: The Saudi throne endorsed Ismail Haniyeh
as Palestinian prime minister but any unity government to be
established will from now on come under Saudi patronage. Money
is no object either. The Saudi benefactor and its allies can
funnel the Palestinian protectorate aid amounting to USD three
billion every year without butting an eyelid. Their oil revenues
last year alone, totaled some US$ 480 billion.
The most pressing goal in the Saudi Monarch's sights was Haniyeh’s
personal guarantee to scale down in stages the Iranian and Hezbollah
presence in Gaza and nullify Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's painstaking
efforts, made last year to establish Tehran's strategic Mediterranian
outpost in Gaza "Hamastan". King Abdullah bin Abdul
Aziz al-Saud had groomed Ismail Haniyeh’s rise to the
top of the Hamas' leadership during his visit to Riyadh in the
second half of January. In fact, Haniyeh seems to have made
a shrewd bargaining move last December which certainly comes
within the best traditions of Middle East Qasba haggling. His
three-day visit to Tehran, during which he held high-profile
meetings with top Iranian officials, including Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
offered Haniyeh more than he had ever dreamt of. In the words
of one Palestinian observer, the Iranians treated Haniyeh like
a second prodigal son (the first being Hezbollah). In a press
conference at Tehran airport, the Palestinian prime minister,
joyfully referred to Iran as now being "our strategic depth".
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The unexpected generosity of Shia Iran towards a Sunni Islamist
movement like Hamas, should have been viewed as a rebuff and
direct challenge not only to American hegemony in the region,
but to Saudi Arabia which regards itself as protector of Sunni
Islam. Naturally, Riyadh's strategic move which followed was
to lure Hamas away from Iran’s influence and bring it
back into the Arab fold, in spite of the fact, that the United
States views Hamas as a terrorist organization. Whether invited
or not, Haniyeh's next destination was Riyadh, where in a secret
deal the elements of cooperation between the Saudi government
and Hamas political leaders in Gaza were laid out. Whatever
may be claimed against Ismail Haniyeh's fundamentalist ideologies,
his December trip must mark him as an excellent political manipulator!
As it seems after all, Iran's entry into the world of Palestinian
funding has not transformed Hamas into a pro-Iranian group or
one that is controlled by Tehran, but has given it a great deal
of political room to maneuver and this Haniyeh has exploited
with maximum effect. No doubt that the Saudi sponsored Mecca
Agreement will establish an emboldened Hamas government in its
negotiations with both Abu Mazen and Israel.
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The unexpected generosity of Shia Iran towards a Sunni
Islamist movement like Hamas, should have been viewed
as a rebuff and direct challenge not only to American
hegemony in the region, but to Saudi Arabia which regards
itself as protector of Sunni Islam
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But Hamas will have to pick up a price tag which may not be
cheap. First it is doubtful whether the Tehran clerics and especially
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will accept willingly to lose another of
his strategic assets, having lost his forward base in Hezbollastan
in Lebanon last summer. Under his orders Gaza might well explode
once more into a new series of sectarian violence, aimed to
destabilize any newly formed "unity government" between
Hamas and Fatah.
There is enough sectarian tension and unfinnished business
with local warlords and terrorist clans, which view such a government
with suspicion. Moreover, Saudi Arabian influence into the Gaza
strip will undoubtedly introduce a new danger to secular Palestine-
Wahhabism, which no less extreme than Hezbollah or al Qaeda
to nullify any future return to a dialogue with Israel or the
West.
Wahhabism (also known as Salafism), is named after Muhammad
ibn al Wahhab (1703-1792). The Wahhabis differ from traditional
Sunnis in that they believe in the literal interpretation of
the words of the prophet Mohammed. They are extremely puritanical
and legalistic in matters of faith and religious practice. Wahhabism
considers any modernism to be contrary to the Islamic faith.
They reject any other branches of Islam and consider these heretics
and killing them is not considered a sin.
Wahhabism is an expansionist sect intolerant of Shi‘ite
Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Hinduism; in fact, Wahhabists
seek to challenge and destroy all these faiths. In essence,
oil has been the tool that enables Saudi Wahhabi fanaticism
to acquire petrodollars to use in activities aimed at undermining,
attacking and ultimately subjugating the West. The Saudi-Wahhabi
threat must not be underestimated by the delusion that the Saudi
royal family is a moderating force within Saudi politics when
the realty is that it has produced a well-funded launch pad
for extreme ideologies. Indeed, Saudi Arabia and its militant
Islamic doctrines constitute a clear and present danger to western
societies and especially Israel.
The royal Saud's relationship with Wahhabis is symbiotic. The
rulers rely on the religious establishment for legitimacy and
support, while the religious establishment relies on the government
for maintaining and spreading its ideology. From time to time,
however, this arrangement fails to work, when extreme fundamentalist
elements, either Shi'ite or al Qaeda affiliated cause severe
terrorist acts throughout Saudi Arabia.
Anywhere trouble is found, Wahhabism may thrive and the lawless
Gaza strip with its armed chaos may be an ideal place for it.
Hamas, as an extreme and relentless anti-Israel and anti-US
element represents pure Wahhabism ideology and could become
an ideal breeding ground for Wahhabi mosques, financed with
Saudi petrodollars. Such a move will certainly not be tolerated
by Hezbollah and al Qaeda, who have already established substantial
influence in the Gaza Strip among the huge refugee population.
But in the long run, Sunni Wahhabism, sponsored by Saudi Arabia,
may well gain more public access than the Shi'ite Islam preachers
of Hezbollah, or al Qaeda, which is still regarded as too dangerous
by the majority of Palestinians.
But what worries the Saudi king is not Iran's active involvement
in Palestinian affairs, but rather the domino theory of Iranian
influence: the concern that this is yet another political move,
coming on top of its intervention in Iraq and Lebanon. The attention
that Saudi Arabia is paying to the Palestine Authority, whether
Hamas or Fatah, is seen primarily as a way of attempting to
contain the Iranian domino effect. The Saudi mediation initiative
is therefore viewed as one that must succeed, or challenge the
ultimate test of Saudi prestige in the region, a situation which
the Saudi royal household cannot tolerate.
From Israel's point of view, the Mecca Agreement is certainly
a worrisome development. The battle to hinder Hamas from gaining
the world's acceptance may well end in defeat, because even
the Bush administration would not be able to reject an intra-Palestinian
compromise agreement led by the Saudi king. American interests
in Saudi Arabia are dominant. Riyadh is the third-largest supplier
of oil to the US and no administration in Washington would dare
reject the Mecca Agreement that the Saudi king is so proud of,
even if there are officials, which regard such an agreement
as misplaced and counter to Israel's interest. But under the
circumstances, it is clearly evident, that Israel can blame
no one but its own shortsighted political leadership, which
allowed the controversial January 2006 elections to be held
at all, contrary to all forebodings and which brought Hamas
to power.
Read David Eshel's past commentary here
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