Ziad Abu Amr is ready to jump back into the fray. the well-respected veteran negotiator and independent politician is on the shortlist to become the new foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority. His nomination is part of a broader effort by Palestinians to end the devastating economic sanctions placed on the West Bank and Gaza by the international community after Hamas took
control of the government last January. The 56-year-old Abu Amr, who holds a political science degree from Georgetown, is up to fill one of three posts--the others being that of finance minister and the prime minister--which are supposed to be vacated by Hamas members. He spoke to NEWSWEEK's Michael Hastings at his office in Gaza. Excerpts:
Hastings: So, do you want the job?
Abu Amr: It depends. It's not up to me. I need to be asked. My answer depends very much on my conviction whether this government will be able to take off or not. But there is a great sense of hopefulness that we are about to have a breakthrough to form a government that will be able to end the siege.
After months of deadlock, why are you more optimistic now?
Because I am involved in the negotiations and see the keenness on parts of the various sides to make this effort of forming a new government successful. And of course we know the parameters and basis for the new government. We are talking about a new prime minister who will be acceptable to Palestinians and the rest of the world, and we are talking about the political program that is also acceptable to the rest of the world. We are looking into a government with people who are highly qualified, who can do the job. The ingredients for a breakthrough are there and the likelihood of ending the siege is very high.
The three people mentioned for the new cabinet, yourself included, studied in the United States. How will this affect the Palestinian view of America?
I don't think this is a political consideration. The more important consideration [is that] you have good formal education, the right education. It doesn't matter if it's the United States, the Arab world or anywhere else [in the] the world. We are talking about people with qualifications, particularly with skills and a track record. We are talking about people who are known for their integrity and leadership abilities. We are talking about people who can do the job. We are stuck in a situation where we need a certain type of person--not only for political consideration, not because that's what the rest of the world wants--but because the objective conditions warrant that type of government. [We need] people who can reconstruct, work hard, plan, move around, travel, talk to the rest of the world.
The economic sanctions have hurt Gaza and the West Bank badly. Do you think the Palestinians regret supporting Hamas?
I don't know. Of course there's been a lot of disappointment [in Hamas, but] it also enjoys strong hard-core support. I think we need to wait [to] answer this question. I think if you look at some indicators, there is disappointment, frustration and loss of faith in anybody--Hamas and Fatah. But it's very hard at this point to measure popularity. I would say everybody's popularity has been declining under these most adversarial conditions. The siege, poverty, people not receiving their salaries for months--these elements wouldn't make any government popular. But Hamas is one of those movements that is capable of restoring its popularity.
Even if there's a new cabinet, the Hamas stance is still at odds with the international community's demands. They reject Israel's right to exist, for instance.
The government is not an individual enterprise. You have [a number of] cabinet members who are non-Hamas. It doesn't matter if there is a majority, even if you have a small number of non-Hamas cabinet members it's going to make a difference. [But] this is going to be a different government. This is not a Hamas government. This is a national unity government. You are going to see things you haven't seen in the last six or seven months, there are going to be real discussions, real debates in the cabinet, votes--it is different.
But there are also calls from Hamas for revenge, to start suicide bombings again, and to target Americans.
I don't take this seriously. I don't think this represents the mainstream in Hamas.
But people are still shooting, bombs are still going off.
I wouldn't even call it low-intensity warfare. It's something symbolic, people trying to remind you "Listen: we are here. We cannot be dismissed as irrelevant." The question is, how do you put an end to all of these manifestations of vio-lence? This requires a national-unity government.