Comment summary:
- On 13 August, president Mahmoud Abbas visited Russia on the tenth visit. Leader Al-Fatah met with president Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Gaza.
- The Russian president expressed his support for the Palestinians and announced that Moscow supports a two-state solution, in which there is both a judaic state and a Palestinian state.
- According to Abbas, over 40,000 people were killed as a consequence of the war in Gaza, about 80,000 were injured, and 10,000 were lost. The president of Palestine accuses the U.S. of disobeying decisions passed by the UN. He hopes for further support from Russia.
Russian-Palestinian relations
In 1947, the russian Union voted at the UN forum for the plan to make 2 judaic and Palestinian states on Palestinian soil. He was besides the first country to recognise Israel, hoping that thanks to this motion it would adopt a communist socio-economic system, allowing Moscow to grow its influence in the mediate East[1]. History has shown that this did not happen, and Israel has become 1 of the most crucial Western partners.
The Kremlin's attention so focused on Naserovian Egypt, which rebelled against the cold-war capitalist block and took a clear pro-Soviet orientation. In 1970, Egypt's president Gamal Abdal Naser died and his successor Anwar as-Sadat began to prosecute a different abroad policy vision, which forced the russian Union to search out a fresh ally again in the region. Moscow saw it in the increasingly active Palestine Liberation Organization established in 1964. During the 1970s, the leader of OWP Yasser Arafat visited the USSR respective times, which assured him of his support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state [2].
Mutual relations deteriorated erstwhile Mikhail Grobachev came to power in the Kremlin, who began to retreat Soviets from their engagement in 3rd planet countries. Further cooling of bilateral relations occurred erstwhile during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991, OWP supported Baghdad. This movement has caused another players on the global phase to reduce or retreat their support for Arafat outside Moscow, which has forced Palestinians to negociate with Israel. As a result, an agreement was signed in 1993 in Washington, D.C., under which Palestinian autonomy was established in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. presently in this first area is ruled by Hamas and in the second successor of Arafat- president Mahmud Abbas, leader of the Al-Fatah party.
Kremlin plays in Palestine
During this century, the Kremlin has repeatedly commented on the creation of a full sovereign Palestinian state while preserving the judaic state on Palestinian soil. Russian abroad Minister Sergei Lavrow confirmed this position in his message of 9 October 2023. [3]. In addition, Moscow does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization and has already held respective talks to reconcile it with Al-Fatah [4]. It besides exports wheat and medicines to Palestine, and since the siege of Gaza, it has donated over 700 000 tonnes of humanitarian aid [5].
Mahmoud Abbas' visit to Russia
Mahmoud Abbas has held the office of president of Palestine since 2005. After Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip, his governments de facto boil down to the West Bank. In 2014-2021 he visited Russia 9 times. He besides has a friendly relation with her president. Abbas' next visit to this country took place last week on 13 August. In the process, president Palestine laid flowers on the grave of an unknown soldier in Moscow and met Vladimir Putin[6]. After a warm welcome, during which both heads of state hugged, the president of Russia stated that his position remained unchanged and that in order to guarantee stableness and long-term peace in the mediate East region it is essential to fulfil all UN decisions and to establish a full sovereign Palestinian State. He besides stressed that the Russian point of view was formulated long ago, and that any external circumstances did not affect him. Abbas, on the another hand, expressed his gratitude for Russian-Palestinian friendship, which continued to make in the times of the USSR and accused the United States of not complying with the decisions passed by the UN General Assembly and the safety Council.
The president of Palestine noted that more than 40,000 people had died in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, around 80,000 were injured and 10 000 were missing. Both parties stressed that they were in constant contact.[7]
Perspectives
Russia under Putin's regulation is an active player in the mediate East, as shown, among others, by her relations with Iran and Syria. In the case of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Russia aspires to the function of a state that will contribute to the implementation of the 1947 UN Resolution. The intensive support of the Kremlin for Palestinian independence, its talks with Hamas and its relationship with Mahmoud Abbas are seen as a threat to the United States, which, if an independent Palestinian state is created, will lose influence in the region for Russia, which would most likely become the main political partner for the recently created creation.
Until the war in Ukraine ends with the Western victory, and Palestinian leaders will search support in Moscow, Washington will not let independent Palestine to rise. Analyzing Putin's message from his conversation with Abbas, it can be seen that there are no concrete proposals that Moscow intends to make in the close future for the mediate East. 2 factors could have affected this. First, the fresh Hamas leader (after killing the previous-Ismail Haniji) became more ruthless and extremist Jahja Sinwar, with whom conversations may be more hard for the Kremlin. Secondly, it is possible that as a consequence of Russia's unexpected Ukrainian offensive, it will retreat for a time from its engagement in the mediate East and focus on closer problems.
Bibliography:
[1] L. Bush, The first country to admit Israel, 16.05.2017, https://jewishcurrents.org/the-first-country-to-recognize-israel [accessed 16.08.2024]
[2] N. Ahmad, The Palestine Liberation Organization, https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41394763.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3Ad10138c4e410276d7db95a4d90bb38&ab_segments=0%2Fbase_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&origin=&initiator=search-results&acceptTC=1 [accessed 16.08.2024]
[3] Ministry of abroad Affairs of the Russian Federation, https://mid.ru/en/maps/ps/1908193/ [accessed:17.08.2024]
[4] M. Warlord, Palestine in Russia's abroad Policy, 04.05.2020, https://pism.pl/publications/Palestina_in_policy_foreign_Russia, [accessed: 17.08.2024]
[5]The Observatory of economical Complexity, https://oec.world/en/profile/balanceoral-country/rus/partner/pse, [accessed:17.08.2024]
[6] P. King, The leader of Palestine will meet Vladimir Putin, 12.08.20124, #google_vignette, [accessed:16.08.2024]
[7] Link to Vladimir Putin's gathering with Mahmouda Abbas https://www.youtube.com/embed/8pK-fn3CbWM [accessed:16.08.2024]
Photo: Canva
