"Mr Abbas Goes to Washington: Can He Still Succeed?"

[Englander]

International Crisis Group

Middle East Briefing N°17
24 May 2005

OVERVIEW

As he visits Washington six months after his appointment as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and more than 100 days after his election as President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is in a difficult position. He has institutional and popular legitimacy for his agenda, but remains in crucial respects a leader who is finding it hard to rule. Making demands upon him is legitimate, as Israel has justified security concerns. But these should be matched by actions that empower him, including, where necessary making no less legitimate demands upon Israel.

Enjoying international support Yasir Arafat could only dream of at the end of his rule, Abbas has been no more successful than Arafat in changing Israeli policies or fundamentally altering the U.S. approach. Domestically, he has a deserved reputation as a reformer committed to the institutional reconstruction of the Palestinian polity. While change has occurred, it has been slow and haphazard, as a result of resistance from within the dominant Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) rather than of defiance by the opposition. Not less importantly, some of Abbas's most noteworthy achievements -- including a significant reduction in Israeli-Palestinian hostilities and the gradual incorporation of the Islamist Resistance Movement (Hamas) into the political system -- are being threatened by the stalemate in relations with Israel, differing views of the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire, and the prospect of delayed parliamentary elections.

Before his election, Crisis Group argued Abbas would have to earn legitimacy from the Palestinian people and sustain his mandate with results. He has made real progress on the former but his legitimacy is undermined by shortcomings on the latter. Without change on the ground and tangible diplomatic progress, his difficulties will grow exponentially.

The Palestinian leader's 26 May 2005 visit to the White House, legislative elections later in the year, and Israel's scheduled disengagement from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank are critical milestones. If he emerges without convincing commitments from the first, Fatah fares poorly in the second, and Israel's withdrawal is less than complete or serves to forestall meaningful political progress, his authority will be much undermined. A repeat of his 2003 premiership, in which Israeli intransigence, U.S. neglect, and international passivity empowered Palestinian rivals to frustrate him, would be in prospect.

More at;
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3466&l=1

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. Abbas bought himself some insurance

He has signed a major economic pact with China, who has basically agreed to speak for the Palestinians in the UN security Council, like we do for Israel. Not only that, Vladimir Putin just paid a little visit down there and laid the groundwork for a similar agreement. This, of course, has not been reported in the "Runaway bride" mainstream media, so don't be surprised if this is the first you hear of it. China, Russia and India have been quietly outflanking us across the globe through economic agreements galore while we continue to make enemies and get caught up in *'s idiotic and murderous "policies." There isn't a spot in Hell bad enough for that shithead.

[Englander]

2. Abbas needs a partner -- will it be US?

The Boston Globe

Daniel Levy | May 25, 2005

PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Washington in an unenviable, if familiar predicament -- showered with rhetoric, neglected on policy. After only four months in office, his record is noteworthy by any standards, let alone those of the Middle East. A cease-fire has been reached and largely adhered to by Palestinian militants, violence has fallen dramatically, democratic and internationally monitored local elections conducted, and security forces restructured. Not bad after the blood-letting and desperation of the past four years.

Does more need doing? Absolutely. But rather than being encouraged along this path of nonviolence and democratic reform, Abbas finds himself undermined at every turn by Israel, his supposed ''partner for peace." Congress has joined in by essentially preventing the disbursement of US aid to Abbas's Palestinian Authority. This despite Israel and America's clear interest in the platform of antiterror, pro-democracy, and political realism succeeding in the Palestinian territories.

By electing Abbas with a thumping majority, the Palestinian public was giving this platform a chance -- a conditional chance. Palestinians want reform, but they also need to be convinced that nonviolence can deliver their broader political aspirations of ending occupation and achieving real freedom. The sell is made harder by Ariel Sharon's Gaza evacuation being unilateral and not the product of negotiations. The Hamas claim that terror succeeded has real traction. The Palestinian street will need to be convinced otherwise for nonviolence to take root, and for this Abbas needs an Israeli partner.

To argue this case is not to ignore that additional Palestinian Authority reforms are badly needed. It simply recognizes that Israeli policies, and especially restrictions on freedom of movement, disproportionately determine Palestinians' daily lives. Nor does this explanation constitute an apology for terror. To understand and then undermine the environment in which terror thrives is all about better counter-terror policy, not making excuses.

True, Israel is busy preparing to withdraw from Gaza and four Northern West Bank settlements in less than 100 days. But if that is to set in motion a positive momentum, Israel and America must end the policy of abandoning Abbas to Hamas.


Daniel Levy served as a policy adviser in the Israeli prime minister's office.
He was the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative.


More at;
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/05/25/abbas_needs_a_partner____will_it_be_us/

[drdon326]

3. It works both ways....

if the US and Israel have to buddy up to the terror-supporting holocaust-denying spineless Abbas , then abbas better stop sucking up to terrorist groups like the fawning weasel he is.