|
Why they love Mahmoud Abbas by Hasan Abu Nimah Jordan Times, 1 December 2004
Mahmoud Abbas was recently selected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). As the sole candidate of Fatah, the faction that dominates the PLO and the Palestinian Authority (PA), he is almost certain to be elected on 9 January as president of the PA, replacing Yasir Arafat in both key positions.
<snip>
Israel's goal is not to achieve calm for the purpose of negotiating a total, orderly withdrawal from the occupied territories in the context of a peace deal. Israel wants to end Palestinian resistance in order to remove any obstacle to implementing its expansionist programme in all of Palestine. This would certainly thrill Israel, but it will not lead to peace and security, nor will it gain the Palestinians anything.
<snip>
Abbas will soon be served with endless lists of impossible demands. The peace processors will urge him to comply simply because they are too craven to confront Israel. Abbas will not be unable to fulfil the demands either because he does not have the means or because they will be so counter to Palestinian rights that the people will stop him. And the region will be back to square one while the professional peace industry devises new ways to delay the inevitable day when they will be forced to confront Israel as they confronted and defeated the racist regime in apartheid South Africa.
|