...
Imad Shakur, one of the Palestinian Authority chairman's many advisers, described the prevailing attitude in the territories in a courageous article published in the mass-circulation Arab newspaper A-Sharq al-Awsat last week. In it, he calls not just for a
halt to the intifada, but also for the
dismantling of all the armed organizations, including the Fatah Tanzim. He even
expresses contempt for the term "the blessed intifada" and
severely criticizes the leadership that refuses to recognize its mistakes and is
not internalizing the changes in the world and the region. Shakur reminds his readers of the
fate of President Saddam Hussein, who promised to wage a victorious war against the United States. He argues that a genuine and dignified solution to the Palestinian matter can only come from a
drastic change in the patterns of thinking and governing to
move toward a real democratic and pluralistic system.
Anyone who knows the Palestinian leadership from up close, including Arafat's inner circle, knows that Shakur's article is not expressing solely his opinion. As a matter of fact, it was reprinted in full in the PA's main newspaper, Al Ayam, which is published in Ramallah and edited by Akram Haniya, one of Arafat's closest advisers; in the competing Al Quds, published in Jerusalem; and also in the Jordanian newspaper A-Ra'i and became the talk of the day there, too. It is also known that the article was seen by Arafat and Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) prior to its publication and they did not prevent it from being published.
Clearly, many Palestinians, including some of the leaders, think the same way, and this is not such a recent development. It's known that the first Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), opposed the intifada from the start and sought to stop it. Others have referred to it as a death blow to the Palestinian people. And some spoke, even then, of
the foolish mistake at Camp David when the Palestinians rejected the Clinton-Barak proposal. At a later stage, they began to organize in order to promote these ideas.
These people did not concentrate solely on today's diplomatic-security situation. They also thought about the future of the Palestinian people. At their meetings, which were held openly, they talked not just about reforms but also about how to establish a special Arab state in democratic and pluralistic Palestine, and about a free and thriving economy. They
cited Japan and Germany, which were compelled to dismantle their armies following the surrender in World War II, and how they have since become economic and technological superpowers. They
talked about Israel in terms of *cooperation* instead of *hostility*, in terms of *envy* instead of *hatred*.
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/391362.html
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