Abbas needs a miracle

[ProgressiveMuslim]

Ramzy Baroud, IMEU, Feb 29, 2008

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert shakes hand with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, prior their meeting at Olmert's residence in Jerusalem. (Thaer Ganaim, Maan Images)
Time is running out for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Although both men are still committed to their risky venture of marginalising Hamas at any cost, the latter's obduracy and recent events in Gaza point to the inescapable conclusion - the undertaking was doomed from the start.

For Olmert the issue demographics remains. He told Israeli daily Ha'aretz in an interview published in November 2007 that if it didn't agree to an independent Palestinian state, Israel would "face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, and as soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished". The Apartheid analogy is of course not a new one. Leading South Africans themselves were the first to make the comparison, and Israel's history of aiding and abetting the infamous Apartheid South African governments is no secret either.

But Olmert's belated rude-awakening aside, it is Mahmoud Abbas who is running out of options. Unlike Olmert, Abbas has no real, measurable powers. For one, his popularity amongst his own people has never been high. Past quarrels with late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat during the early years of the Palestinian Uprising singled Abbas out at an untrustworthy opportunist. Late professor Edward Said once called him 'moderately corrupt.' The formidable intellectual died before seeing the moderate corruption of Abbas morphing into a wholesale onslaught on democracy, freedom and every noble principle the Palestinians ever fought for. I wonder what Said would have said after seeing the people of Gaza suffering beyond comprehension while Abbas and Olmert meet in the latter's Jerusalem residence, exchanging words of praise and vowing their undying commitment to 'peace'.

But how long can Abbas and Olmert carry on with this charade?

For Olmert, the objective and endgame are clear: stall until a 'solution' can be finalised and imposed on the Palestinians. This in turns depends on the finalisation of the construction of the illegal settlements, the wall and the network of Jewish-only bypass roads in Occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank. However, Olmert's poor standing among the Israeli public and the aforementioned 'demographic threat' will not make it possible for him to stall indefinitely. Still, with the US' record of unconditionally backing Israeli policies, Olmert will remain in a relatively safe spot, regardless of which major presidential candidate goes on to claim the White House.

One can hardly say the same about Abbas. His usefulness for Israel, and thus the US administration, is entirely dependent on his level of 'cooperation', which essentially means ensuring Palestinian disunity, fighting Hamas, and remaining a pawn in the US' imaginative view of the entire region (whereby 'moderates' stand united against 'extremists' and 'rejectionists').

http://imeu.net/news/article008021.shtml

[azurnoir]

1. Abbas miracle? Like a lighting bolt?

One can hardly say the same about Abbas. His usefulness for Israel, and thus the US administration, is entirely dependent on his level of 'cooperation', which essentially means ensuring Palestinian disunity

What is outlined is the very reason he is so useful, his role is keeping the Palestinians from ever being unified, while bending over and taking the blame for "losing" Gaza as a means of stalling any progress, that is his job, but I am sure it pays well.

For Olmert, the objective and endgame are clear: stall until a 'solution' can be finalised and imposed on the Palestinians.

I think the solution has been finalized and is being implemented an inch at a time