selves. "People here believe the
PLO is about to march in with
solid plans for getting the au-
tonomy going. But that isn't so,"
Mr. Zakout continued with can-
dor. "We've got to start from
scratch. The PLO has been a
revolutionary movement. Now,
for the first time, it will have to
rule. Up till now, it's Education
Department has been a liaison
office; now it must become a
ministry of education, which is
quite a different matter."
But the expectation of salva-
tion from without remains
strong — and that is daunting
problem.
The enormity of the task is
"I found Gaza
completely
destroyed."
Jamal Zakout
echoed by Diab Allouh, the head
of the PLO's Media and Culture
Department in Gaza, another
local leader whose sphinx-like
demeanor barely covers his anx-
iety. "We must rebuild every-
thing here: our laws, our values,
as well as our national institu-
tions. With the help of 'friends
outside,' we'll need enormous
investment to create an entire
economy because we can't sell
people dreams if they're hun-
gry," he explained.
But the interest of those
"friends" remains moot. Only a
fraction of the budget needed to
establish the Palestinian police
— a key to the success of the au-
tonomy — has been mobilized.
Worse yet, disappointment
has been aggravated by insult.
The Norwegians, who assumed
the modest commitment of do-
nating uniforms, have supplied
used ones — only heightening
the fear that technical problem
of getting the autonomy work-
ing will be even more difficult
than the Palestinians antici-
pated.
Yet clearly, the need to cre-
ate order in a place where chaos
has become the norm remains
paramount. And the problem
begins at the top. No one seems
to know who will actually be in
charge in Gaza: local leaders or
officials coming from abroad.
And few are willing to speculate
on how the opposition — both
within the PLO and without—
will respond to the imposition
of law and order.
"Even the Israelis couldn't
disarm people here," Mr. Allouh
said with undisguised concern.
In the face of so much uncer-
tainty, however, it must be said
that the spokesmen of the Is-
lamic Movement have been try-
ing to pour sand rather than oil
on the fire by adopting a sub-
dued, wait-and-see attitude to-
ward the future regime.
"The Islamic Movement re-
jects the Gaza-First Agreement,
but that doesn't mean we won't
share in it in the future," said
31-year-old Khaled al-Hindi
(who was kidnapped by Fatah
Hawks last week but soon re-
leased after a reconciliation be-
tween the two factions). "Right
now, we are working with the
PLO on building relations based
on mutual understanding and
respect," he explained.
Hamas (a word that is never
spoken in public by the guard-
ed members of the Islamic
Movement) is also waiting to
see "whether the police will be
used as a tool to serve the peo-
ple or punish it," as Mr. al-Hin-
di put it — hinting at the fear
of a swift crackdown by the
PLO.
In cautious, often equivocal
language, Mr. al-Hindi painted
a picture of Hamas treading a
shaky wire and hoping to have
things both ways. "We would
like to participate in social pro-
jects, building municipal insti-
tutions, even municipal
elections," he said. "We'll take
part in whatever helps Pales-
tinian society progress."
But such involvement, and
responsibility, stops short of
anything "political" — such as
elections for the autonomy gov-
ernment — before the Islamic
Movement is convinced that the
PLO intends to establish a "de-
mocratic regime."
"We want to let the people de-
cide," he said.
But "the people" — incurably
bitter toward Israel and equal-
ly skeptical about themselves
— are in a mercurial state, at
best. "We danced in the streets
last September, but now our
mood changes from minute to
minute," reported Dr. Raouf
Tishawi, who has just returned
from his honeymoon and sees
the broader situation in similar
terms. "Once the Israelis go, we
may have two good years. But
once people get used to freedom,
they'll start to think about pol-
itics, and then the trouble will
start."
Actually, that's an optimistic
view, since not all Palestinians
believe that the Israelis will re-
ally go. Pessimism is more the
norm.
Yet Mr. Zakout, who brings
an "outsider's" perspective to
the scene, is determined to be-
lieve that the best will ulti-
mately prevail. "I'm not
pessimistic, merely realistic,"
he concluded.
"Somehow — even if the Is-
raelis want us to fail, try to keep
us weak, hope to set off a civil
war — we'll find solutions to our
problems. Because we Pales-
tinians have one critical thing
going for us: we have no choice
but to succeed." ❑
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