Abbas’s Statement

Maher Othman     Al-Hayat     2003/09/5

In his declaration before the Legislative Council, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas didn't mention anything about the "achievements" of his government that the deputies and the citizens weren't aware of. He didn't present a clear analysis of the evolutions related to the Roadmap or "achievements" justifying his demand to increasing his government's prerogatives, especially on the security level, what the Americans and the Israelis are inciting. Abbas and his Security Affairs Minister, Mohamad Dahlan, were received yesterday with hostile yells in front of the Legislative Council reflecting the decline in the popularity of this government and its two eminent personalities, knowing that the Americans and the Israelis have harmed their reputation from their praise.       

Abbas was expected to impress his listeners or receive their cheers by presenting his government's "achievements," not because of a self or moral deficiency in it, but because the Roadmap, which insures Israel's security in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Jerusalem as its capital in 2005, was faced with the most hostile acts from Israel. The U.S. administration was merciful regarding these acts and didn't stop the Sharon government from executing them.   

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was specific in his diagnosis of the state of the Roadmap when he declared, on the eve of Abbas' declaration, that "the Roadmap is dead, but only because of the Israeli military attacks in the past few weeks" and that the American interests in Iraq and the coming presidential elections prevented the implementation of the Roadmap. 

Abbas' diagnosis of the Roadmap's status concurred with Arafat's, which makes us wonder about Abbas' insistence to gain more prerogatives for his government which seems to be heading to stumble on obstacles Sharon's government set on the Palestinian people's road to liberation and independence. These obstacles are reflected with carrying on with the occupation of the Palestinian cities and villages and the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza and continuing with the construction of the racial separating fence which collected wide spaces of the fertile Palestinian territories, and which would make the West Bank cities and villages racist "retreats" and prisons where the Palestinian citizens live!

Abbas read during the Aqaba Summit in June a speech that the Americans were known to have participated in its drafting. He talked about the commitment to stop the armed Intifada, collecting the unregistered weapons and listed the Palestinian commitments set by the Roadmap. He expected the Israelis to execute their commitments as well, which still hadn't happened, while the exact opposite did. The Israelis destroyed the most brilliant achievement of Abbas' government, the three-months-truce, by carrying on with the assassination of the Palestinian activists and their leaders.

Abbas' statements about administrative reforms is considered as luxury when the Palestinian people' suffering continues, for there is no need for reforms in an occupied country which is losing a part of its land on a daily basis and which people's rights are being violated by an Israeli government that doesn't want peace and considers it as a threat to its expansion plans. 

The Sharon government encouraged the Bush administration to boycott the elected Palestinian President, and incited him not to accept any Prime Minister other than Abbas. Thus it keeps itself away from the essential source of Palestinian legitimacy and helps in weakening the Palestinian interlocutor it chose.

Washington, following the Sharonist plans, is taking a part in spreading insecurity and injustice in the Middle East.