History Holds Its Breath
Abu Mazen's commitment to disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad has become a bad joke. Not only has he assured Hamas members that they can keep their weapons, but he has, fatefully, allowed them to participate in the political process--even with their guns! His wooing of Hamas as a political party avoided bloodshed but enhanced its legitimacy without diminishing its arsenal or capacity for violence, giving the organization an effective veto on peace negotiations.
The landscape is as menacing as it is bleak. Abbas has failed to close the rocket and explosives factories; he has not arrested any key operatives; he has been unable to gain support for a cease-fire, or hudna, accepting a lesser obligation of tahadiya, or calm, which is no more than a pause to rearm, train, and reload. And that is already happening. Abu Mazen has not stopped attacks or punished those who have committed them, or put a stop to the escalating weapons smuggling from Egypt, abetted by some of his own officials. The firing of mortars and Kassam rockets in Gaza is another violation of the understanding with Israel, but it continues. Abu Mazen no longer goes there to condemn or stop the attacks but, in fact, justifies them.
Terrorist groups are now making great efforts to smuggle expertise and weapons into the West Bank, which is where the Israelis expect the next attacks, after the disengagement from Gaza--attacks that are just waiting for execution orders. In some instances, when Israel provided the Palestinian Authority with the names of weapons smugglers, Palestinian security officials warned the smugglers that the Israelis were on their tail. Abu Mazen has not even been willing to eliminate the odious incitement in Palestinian media to hatred of Jews and Israelis--never mind silencing the imams inciting violence. Astonishingly, he has even allowed the introduction into high schools of the infamous anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Palestinian spokespeople in the West deny this insidious poisoning of the next generation, but it is a fact, as is the failure of Palestinian school texts to recognize the existence of Israel.
The Palestinian leadership always acts differently than it speaks. Arafat always said different things in Arabic than he did in English--and Abu Mazen upholds the tradition. He utters words to condemn terrorist acts, but they mean nothing as long as he refuses to dismantle the terrorist organizations that have brought every hope of progress into question. His failure on the security issue is so pronounced that he has been forced to delay his planned trip to meet with President Bush. The judgment that Abu Mazen is doing little is widespread, even among Palestinians. He is not trusted, even by his own people.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's initiative to unilaterally disengage from Gaza and parts of the West Bank created a unique opportunity for improving Palestinian-Israeli relations by addressing the psychological blocks that have, until now, proved insurmountable for improved ties--namely, the Palestinian belief that Israel would never relinquish control over occupied territories and the Israeli belief that the Palestinians would never renounce terrorism.
advertisement
