A message Palestinians see in Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange: Hamas - 1, Abbas - 0
Some Palestinians see the recent Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange as a win for Hamas’s militant approach, while nonviolent, diplomatic efforts for Palestinian rights have failed. To counter this, the world must support the Palestinian statehood bid through diplomacy at the UN.
East Jerusalem
The Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange a couple weeks ago was a very emotional moment for thousands of Palestinians who were reunited with family members they had not seen for years. But it came at a diplomatic price.
Some of the Palestinian public perceive the prisoner exchange deal (in which Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit) as an achievement for Hamas’s militant approach. They see it as a success story that Palestinian diplomatic efforts and negotiations with Israel have not yet been able to deliver.
The prisoners swap came only a few weeks after all eyes were on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as he stood before the United Nations General Assembly and submitted a request to recognize Palestine as a full and permanent member of the international organization.
AN INTERVIEW: Mahmoud Abbas: 'Of whom should I be afraid?'
One of the reasons that Mr. Abbas had decided to go to the UN was his belief that appealing to the international community through diplomatic channels would bring better results to the Palestinian people than armed resistance. Abbas and other leaders of the Palestinian Authority (PA) are convinced that renewed violence would bring disastrous results for the Palestinian cause. Whether or not their peaceful political approach will trump Hamas’s militant route now depends to a large extent on the international community’s response to the Palestinian bid at the UN.
For now, it looks pretty certain that the bid at the Security Council will be met with a veto by the United States. Despite this, the Palestinian leadership continues to pursue efforts to enter Palestine as a nonmember state in the United Nations through the UN General Assembly.
