PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS, ABU MAZEN, AND THE FUTURE
By Mike Evans
PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) – considered a shoo-in to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority in the upcoming election on Sunday, January 9 – told a campaign rally in the Gaza Strip this week that, “The struggle against the Zionist enemy will continue until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."
For two generations, the PLO has poisoned the minds of the Palestinians. Though Abbas has a better tailor and barber than Arafat had, his ideology is basically the same. And, his attempts to appear more congenial to the West are apparently working in some countries.
The truth remains that Abbas has been second-in-command in a terrorist organization for decades. He acquired his doctorate from a Soviet university where he wrote his doctrinal thesis based on the theory that the Holocaust never took place.
On January 1, 2005, Abbas stated: "We won't forget the right of return of refugees who have been exiled from their land for more than half a century." "The right of return means a return to Israel, not to the Palestinian state."
This is diametrically opposed to President Bush’s statement following a meeting with Prime Minister Sharon in April 2004. Mr. Bush clearly stated that neither the Palestinians who lost land in 1948, nor their descendants, could return to Israel. They could, however, return to the Palestinian territories. Had they been allowed to return, Israel would have become another Lebanon. The President’s courage in reversing the “right of return” policy was a bold move, and provides Israel with the assurance that terrorists in Lebanon would not be imported into major Israeli cities.
Rather than choose words of conciliation earlier this week that would reflect a new Palestinian commitment to achieving peace with Israel, Abbas used the “Zionist enemy” buzzword that is one of the call signs of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups which deny Israel’s right to exist. Instead of campaigning on a platform of peace, following the Road Map to two states living side by side in harmony, Abbas is deliberately conjuring up the most extreme elements of Palestinian nationalism.
If Abbas’s victory this Sunday is a foregone conclusion, why does he feel it necessary to court the extremists by employing their rhetoric? The usual excuse offered by wishful thinkers in high places is that this is just campaign talk. Who expects Abbas – or any other candidate in an election – to stick to campaign promises?
The truth is that Abbas is not just speaking rhetorically, and that by appearing to appease the worst extremists, he is actually playing into their hands and making future coexistence with Israel unlikely.
Another example of such dangerous behavior is Abbas’s attempt to play the “right of return” card. Israel has already rejected this bid by Arafat as a transparent attempt to destroy the Jewish state by flooding it with millions of so-called refugees from the 1948 War of Independence, when the Arab states first tried to destroy nascent Israel. Upholding Arafat’s claim, Abbas expects Israel to absorb the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these original 600,000 Arab refugees – who have been kept multiplying in camps by the Arab countries for almost 60 years for just this purpose.
Abbas’s campaign style was commented upon by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who said this week he found it "disturbing" that Abbas was seen campaigning while being carried on the shoulders of terrorists. “We need reformed Palestinian leadership that deals with this terrorist threat," Powell told NBC's Meet the Press.
But just the day before, Abbas said the Palestinian leadership has a duty to protect “militants” wanted by Israel and indicated he does not intend to crack down on them. Abbas admitted that Palestinian attacks against Israel are counterproductive, but he also said the Palestinian leadership would seek to shield wanted “militants.” "We will not forget the wanted, the heroes," he told a rally in Rafah. (New York Times, 2.1.05)
Abu Mujahed, a commander of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in Balata near Nablus, has been on Israel’s most-wanted list for three years. "The Aksa Martyrs Brigades are categorically opposed to ending the militarization of the intifada... We will continue to resist until martyrdom or victory," he told The Jerusalem Post (2.1.05). "We don't believe that Abu Mazen will allow anyone to confiscate our weapons."
One more ominous indication of this is last month’s first local elections in the Palestinian Authority since 1976. Hamas faced off against Abbas’s Fatah in 23 localities considered to be Fatah strongholds – and won nine. Such a strong showing by those who reject peace with Israel indicates that an Abbas victory will be a hollow one.
Even before the election, Abbas plans to meet with the leaders of various Palestinian factions in Cairo. There, the representatives of these organizations will prepare the Palestinian “honor document”, which outlines Palestinian principles. Such an agreement could reopen negotiations with Israel; however, internal clashes with Hamas could negate the signing of the document.
With Abbas in power, backed by his terrorist cronies, security becomes an even greater concern for the Israelis who have requested early warning sites in the West Bank. Israel has also requested the right to send troops in the event of an attack from the east by Arab countries. The Palestinians have rejected both requests.
There are wishful thinkers who are clinging to the hope that the Palestinian Authority election January 9 will be a genuine turning point in the resolution of this terrible conflict. They argue that we must judge Abbas by what he does, not what he says, to stop terrorism. But we already have seen Abbas fail to deliver on a promise to end the violence and forge coexistence in the summer of 2003, when he was Arafat’s prime minister.
Since Arafat’s death, Abbas not only has failed to impose a cease-fire on the Palestinian terrorist factions, but attacks against Israeli civilians in the northern Negev and Gaza Strip have actually increased as the election campaign progressed. There have been daily mortar and Kassam rocket attacks, with many Israeli casualties. Abbas is riding the tiger of Palestinian terrorism and won’t get another chance if he falls off again.
Michael D. Evans is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The American Prophecies.
Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is directing his election campaign for the chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority with such self-confidence that it sometimes appears as if he has already been elected. Today, for example, an Egyptian delegation scheduled to arrive in Gaza is supposed to invite representatives of the various Palestinian factions to Cairo in order to prepare the Palestinian "honor document." Abu Mazen played a central role in formulating this document, which details Palestinian national principles. He plans for his first political act to be the achievement of a general Palestinian agreement regarding these principles. And this agreement would open a path to renewed negotiations with Israel. The Egyptian delegation is to launch Abu Mazen's political activity three days before his election. His constituents hope that recently heightened tension between Abu Mazen and Hamas will not bring about the failure of the planned Palestinian dialogue in Cairo.
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