Is Abbas a Moderate?
January 17, 2007
Is Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority a "moderate?" The question has great significance for U.S. Mideast policy since the U.S. recently announced it would be sending $86 million dollars to support Abbas in his battle against Hamas.
While it might appear that Abbas is a "moderate" especially compared to Hamas, some Middle East analysts have a different view and some troubling questions concerning the successor to Yasser Arafat.
Dr. Michael Widlanski is a specialist in Arab politics and communication. His doctorate dealt with the Palestinian broadcast media. Last week , Abbas delivered a major speech to thousands of his Fatah supporters in Ramallah.
Here are some of Widlanski's comments about the speech:
"Our rifles, all our rifles are aimed at The Occupation," declared Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas today in a major speech that was warm to Hamas and harsh to Israel and the United States.
Abbas's comments were interpreted by Palestinians themselves as a clear reference to attacking Israel-a badge of honor rather than something to condemn. In what was in many ways one of the most militant speeches against Israel from a Palestinian official normally touted as a moderate, Dr. Abbas also stretched out his hand to the Hamas terror organization that has never even pretended it does not want to destroy Israel.
Dr. Abbas seemed to reject all possibilities of territorial compromise or anything less than full repatriation of Palestinian refugees, and he repudiated Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's idea that a further Israeli withdrawal would lead to a Palestinian state inside temporary borders.
"Today more than any other day, we must hold fast to our Palestinian principles, and we will not accept a state with temporary borders" said Abbas, adding, "We will not give up one grain in Jerusalem."
Throughout his speech Abbas hinted strongly that spilling blood of Israelis was permitted, while explicitly saying that spilling Palestinian blood was a crime."
Another analyst, Michael Freund in his January 17 column asks the question: Just Who Exactly is a "Moderate" Arab Leader?
Here's Freund's take on the recent trip by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her meeting with Abbas:
"Prior to Rice's arrival, her trip was billed as an effort to bolster "moderate Arab leaders" in the area. On January 9, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that one of the secretary's goals would be to "support those forces of moderation in the region." That sounds reasonable enough. After all, the Middle East could certainly use a healthy dose of restraint. Standing next to Abbas at a press conference in Ramallah on Sunday, the Secretary of State practically gushed with enthusiasm when she said in her opening remarks, "I want everyone to know, particularly the Palestinian people, how much we admire the leadership of President Abbas as a leader of the Palestinian people." And yet, it was just last Thursday, three days prior to meeting with Rice, that Abbas publicly called upon Palestinians to attack Israel.
SPEAKING at a rally to mark the 42nd anniversary of the founding of Fatah, Abbas told a huge crowd gathered in Ramallah, "With the will and determination of its sons, Fatah will continue. We will not give up our principles and we have said that rifles should be directed against the occupation."
"We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation," Abbas added. Is this the kind of "moderation" Rice had in mind? Indeed, despite Abbas's outrageous call to arms, Rice did not say a word - not a single, solitary word! - about it during her joint press conference with him. She did not see fit to demand a retraction from Abbas of his invitation to violence, nor did she press him to refrain from inciting further bloodshed. Instead, Rice chose to heap additional praise on Abbas, telling the assembled journalists that "we've made a lot of progress over recent years, in particular because of the hard work of President Abbas." Huh?
What progress is she referring to? To the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks against southern Israel? To the kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit? Or perhaps to the growing popularity of Hamas and Islamic Jihad among the Palestinian electorate? To be sure, when one compares Abbas with the "genocide now" crowd over at Hamas, he might appear to be a tad bit less extreme. But the gap between "less extreme" and "moderate" is vast, and the two cannot and should not be confused.
AND THEREIN lies the problem with Rice's misguided compliments to Abbas. By embracing him rather than rebuking him, she encouraged the Palestinian leader to believe that he can openly call for violence against Jews without paying any political price for doing so. Her actions also sent a dangerous message to Palestinians, who might start to think that America's top diplomat sees nothing wrong with their leader's plea to start using their rifles against the Jewish state."
These two analysts raise some very simple but profound questions about U.S. foreign policy here in the Middle East. U.S. taxpayers certainly would not want to be contributing to the wrong side of the war on terror.
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