On Thursday,
25th May, news organisations reported that the Zionist Organization
of America (ZOA) strongly praised President Bush's strong statements of support
for
Mr. Olmert
like his predecessors, Ariel Sharon and Natanyahu, came to
When Yasser
Araft was alive, he was unacceptable to Ariel Sharon. Someone else had to be
found: someone pliable, someone that understood the Israeli point of view. Mahmoud Abbas was perfect, but he lacked
legitimacy. In January 2005 a presidential election was organised in which
Mahmoud Abbas ran almost unopposed. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihadhad had
boycotted the election and the other serious contender Mr Barghouti, was in an
Israeli Jail. More than half of the eligible voters did not vote; and of those
that did, only 60% voted for Mahmoud Abbas. In reality Mahmoud Abbas received
only 30% of the eligible votes. Even this 30%, was by some reports, the result
of vote tampering and irregularities. The Jewish Virtual Library’s report on
this election is very enlightening:
“The election
had a much lower turnout than expected — 77,2500 of an estimated 1,120,000
registered voters or 62 percent. Hamas boycotted the vote, as did Arabs living
in east
The election
process went smoothly and despite Palestinian predictions of Israeli
interference, international observers reported that Palestinians were not
obstructed by
Immediately
after the election, 46 officials from the PA Central Election Committee
resigned, confirming suspicions of voting irregularities and fraud. The
Committee had come under pressure from Abbas’ staff to extend the vote by an
additional two hours and to allow non-registered voters to cast ballots to
guarantee a larger turnout and improve Abbas’ chance of a “landslide”
victory.
The day of the
election, gunmen stormed the Committee offices to demand that Palestinians who
were not registered be allowed to vote. The deputy chairman of the Committee,
Ammar Dwaik, said he “was personally threatened and pressured” and confirmed
that some voters were able to remove from their thumbs the ink that was supposed
to prevent double voting”. [[1]]
So here we
have Mr Mahmoud Abbas, which does not really represent the Palestinian masses at
the head of a uniquely corrupt organisation (FATAH), presented to us as the
perfect peace partner for
But Mahmoud
Abbas could not sign-off on the Israeli document without having the say so of
the parliament. It was therefore
necessary to hold a parliamentary election. This time both Hamas and Islamic
Jihad participated, and despite all obstacles Hamas won. This created a problem.
Parliament would not go along with the Israeli plan for annexation of parts of
the
Headlines
began screaming that Hamas a terrorist organisation was not acceptable to
anyone. Everyone suddenly forgot that Western Intelligence services were after
Arafat for many years. He was seen as the most dangerous terrorist in the world.
Yet everyone knew that with regard to the future of
The media also
conveniently did not mention IRA, or other revolutionary organisations that had
been brought into governments. They also forgot to mention that Hamas since
elections had not attacked
This is as
close to terrorism as one can get. It is use of economic violence against
civilians in order to attain goals that are political in nature. Threat of
starvation, or withholding medicine, or salaries is economic violence. What the
West is saying is that unless you don’t change your political views we will let
you starve. A former Israeli
Diplomat Mazel explained the
"This victory
means a drawback to the moderate forces in the Middle East ... especially
"The only
response should be ... boycott, siege and pressure till they will have to go
away," Mazel told a meeting of diplomats and journalists at the Institute for
Contemporary Affairs in
One can accept
this from
“
Defence
Minister Amir Peretz made the decision after a "rise" in intelligence alerts
that radical or rival Palestinians could assassinate the moderate president, the
radio said.
The weapons
were donated by
Presidential
spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh on Thursday strongly denied that Abbas's life
was in danger”. [[3]]
All these
events point to the fact that it is decided that if the economic pressure does
not force the government out, they can be forced out with the force of arms. It
seems that Palestinians like many of their Arab brethrens are going to have to
accept a corrupt regime for foreseeable future.
Meanwhile
“We have for four years
pursued peace based on a New
It seems that
Copyright
Abbas Bakhtiar, all rights reserved.
[1] Jewish Virtual Library: Sources :
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/paelection05.html
[2] Cybercast News Service, “Allowing Hamas Victory
was ‘Historical Blunder,’ Israeli Diplomat Says”,
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200605/INT20060525a.html
[3] Mail & Guardian Online, “
[4] Institute for Advanced Strategic
and Political Studies ^ |