by Khaled Abu Toameh
The Palestinians are furious with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Abbas, for his part, has rejected Obama's opposition to his plan to ask the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian state in September, and says that he will proceed with his efforts.
Both Fatah and Hamas have responded to the speeches of Obama and Netanyahu by declaring that they will go ahead with plans to establish a unity government.
Hamas and Fatah are now hoping to rally as many Arab countries as possible in favor of both their reconciliation agreement and their plan to seek U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state.
The two parties are hoping that the current crisis in relations between the US and the Palestinians will turn into a confrontation between the Arab world and the Obama Administration.
They believe he has "finally shown his true colors," and are convinced that he's "biased" in favor of Israel.
Both Fatah and Hamas have condemned Obama for "succumbing" to pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the pro-Israel "Jewish lobby" in the U.S.
But while Hamas officials have been honest about their views toward Obama, the Fatah leaders in the West Bank have been extremely cautious about expressing their opinion in public.
In private, Fatah leaders have strongly denounced not only Obama, but also Congress for its warm welcome of Netanyahu.
Obama, who until recently was seen as a "friend" of the Palestinians, is now being dubbed, in private, by Fatah representatives, a "Zionist agent" and "pawn" in the hands of Israel and the "Jewish lobby."
While Fatah leaders have remained mum, however, they have unleashed a scathing attack on the U.S. and Obama in their media outlets. There, the tone is much more clear and straightforward, and the bottom line is that Obama is not an honest broker in the Middle East conflict.
It is as if both Fatah and Hamas were expecting Obama to fully endorse their positions. They were expecting the U.S. president to support the Palestinian Authority's intention to ask the United Nations in September to recognize a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines.
They were also expecting Obama to call for a full cessation of settlement construction, and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, including east Jerusalem.
For Fatah and Hamas, Obama's speech before AIPAC and the standing ovations in Congress for Netanyahu are proof that the Americans are "not on our side." In their eyes, what happened at AIPAC and Congress shows that no U.S. president dares to alienate American Jews.
The reason Fatah has refrained from attacking Obama in public is because it needs Washington's financial and political backing.
What Hamas is saying in public about Obama is what Fatah thinks in private, but is afraid to say.
Khaled Abu Toameh
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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