Cyrill Delvin - The Gaza Project

Together with the Fatḥ, and supported by the liberal forces of the administration in Gaza, Šarīf’s Brotherhood Party secured 55.6 percent of the votes inside the Gaza Strip in the first ballot. Although constantly pressured by Israel, the USA and the EU, the former Muslim brotherhood‘s moderate wing was able to hold its ground, but the Palestinian Brotherhood Party, founded by Šarīf five years ago, didn’t make any progress. And now this! Out of the blue, Šarīf appears to have overcome the schism between the Ḥamās and the Fatḥ. How did this happen?«

»Well,« the Middle East expert commented, »a fundamental factor leading to the Ḥamās‘ loss of power is Israel’s embargo policy, which managed to isolate the Gaza Strip and to pacify it. Palestinian attacks and the corresponding Israeli interventions have been drastically reduced over the past two to three years. The wall politics appear to be working, despite international protests. In addition, the supply situation, and with that the humanitarian situation on the Gaza Strip, has dramatically improved since the relaxation of the Israeli trade embargo across the water over the same time period. The power base of the radical Ḥamās fighters and other violent groupings has thereby been noticeably weakened. Furthermore, the governing part of the Ḥamās has become more moderate as a result of external pressure, foremost from the USA.

The West Bank presents an entirely different picture. There the Fatḥ lost a staggering twenty percent. Even the Brotherhood Party’s growth to 14.7 percent couldn’t entirely compensate for the moderates‘ power loss as opposed to the radical forces. Although the two parties together still hold the majority in the council, the Islamic forces with the Ḥamās at the forefront are in effect the actual election winners in the West Bank.

This means that despite the Brotherhood Party’s surprise victory the power balance between the Brotherhood Party including the Fatḥ and the Ḥamās has become more unstable in the entire Palestinian autonomous territories. The near future will decide if a united Palestine can gain enough power and influence and reinstate negotiations with Israel or if, on the other hand, a de facto separation of Gaza and the West Bank will aggravate the crisis. Since the last international peace conference in Malta nine years ago…«

»Hm,« Charles muttered and lowered the volume of the TV, »a surprise, indeed.«

»Aren’t you satisfied?« Ted enquired.

»It’s what we hoped for – and feared. We shall soon find out who really has the say in Palestine. I hope that Nadim will be the man. He’d have earned it.«

»Sir, a call from Madame Lédoux,« the private secretary announced.

»Put her through, please. And, Brad, I’ll have to talk to Whiteford, the Secretary of State, right after. From my study.«

»Very well, Sir!«

Ted wanted to leave the room when Brad did, but Charles beckoned him to stay.

»Please, don’t go yet. We still have to discuss a few things.«

Ted nodded and Charles turned the speakers on.

»Did you hear that,« Françoise exclaimed, »Nadim has done it.«

»Yes, we saw it.«

»That took a load off my mind. There’s nothing standing in our way now. We can start building the pilot plant in Gaza without opposition.«

»Slow down. Let’s not be too hasty.«

»What do you mean?«

»I think it would be wiser to wait until the autumn.«

»But why? We can actually get cracking next week. We’re ready.«

»That’s not the point, Françoise, I don’t doubt it for a minute.«

»So why then?«

»I want to be sure that the election results have been accepted by all sides and that things have calmed down. We need rest on the Gaza Strip, but also in Israel and on the West Bank. I want to fully understand the reasons behind the power shift, and for that I need more time and information.«

»Okay,« Françoise replied, now less enthusiastic. »›Phoenix‹ can wait for a bit, I presume. By the way, the osmosis specialist Cheng procured for us here in Melbourne is a star! We’ve increased the effectiveness by another five percent. Next month, he’ll go to Cyprus to continue the work on the biochemical components onboard the Asteroid.«

»Great news. I have to hang up now, Françoise. Doris is about to ring any minute.«

The connection had already been interrupted when Charles thought he heard an unusual sound in the line. A barely audible whistling noise.

»What is it?« Ted asked in response to Charles‘ sceptical expression.

»Nothing. Must be the satellite link.«

»What? What about it?«

»A strange reverb effect.«

»Do you think someone’s listening in?«

»Hardly. Then I would have heard a clicking sound, but it was more like an acoustic short circuit.«

»I check the codec downstairs and talk to Tariq!«

»Yes, do that, just in case. And Ted, does the two month postponement of the building works in Gaza cause difficulties for us?«

»No. We can easily keep the materials in Polis.«

»Very good!«

»What did you mean earlier on? Do you doubt that Nadim’s election was right?«

»I don’t know. Nothing happens for five years and then suddenly…«

»You think the elections were rigged?«

»It’s not impossible that the Israelis were involved. I’ll talk to Liron as well. I just need to be sure. The last thing we’ll need once we’ll really get going in Gaza is political upheaval.«

Ted scratched his head.

We’ll find out soon enough. Will I see you in the study for a nightcap in a couple of hours?«

»Okay.«

On his way to the study Charles grabbed a cold lemonade from the kitchen. Ted went to the server room in the basement to check the news and the encoding equipment.

»Hello Doris. How are you?«

»Fine, Charles, thank you. In half an hour we’ll have a Middle East assessment regarding the elections in Palestine. I presume that’s why you’re calling?«

»It is. Do you know anything about the background to the surprising outcome?«

»Sorry, no. According to our intelligence guys and the OSZE the election was above board. There were no incidents worth mentioning at the polling stations.«

»I’m worried about Nadim. His situation is more precarious than ever now.«

»I’m aware of that.«

»So much depends on him. If anything happens to him now, it will set us back years of hard work.«

»Did you talk to Eizenburg?«

»No, but I’ll call him shortly.«

»Just wait a bit longer. At six we’ll have a conference call. President Davidson wants to use the momentum to initiate renewed negotiations between Israel and Palestine.«

»That would certainly be useful to us,« Charles said relieved. »But we still have to shield Nadim as much as we can; from his own radicals as well as from the radical Israeli forces.«

»According to my information, it’s quiet in both camps. But that can change overnight. We’ll definitely keep Šarīf‘s personal security on high alert.«

»Right. We’ll postpone the building of the pilot plant in Gaza by two months. By then we will hopefully be in a position to predict upcoming political developments. Incidentally, the research team has managed to achieve another efficiency increase in the testing plant. If we can scale it the way we envisage, we’ll have enough time and resources to tackle the next ›Phoenix‹ phase in no time.«

»You are an incorrigible visionary, Charles…«

»I’m not. I’m simply determined. Israel is the first bastion that has to…«

He couldn’t complete the sentence. The door to his study was abruptly pushed open and Ted stumbled in. Charles turned around in alarm and dropped the receiver. Completely out of breath after his rapid climb up the stairs, Ted first placed his open palm behind his ear and then his index finger on his closed lips. Charles got it immediately. He carefully picked the receiver up again and continued as if nothing had happened.