Abbas ‘Stands Up’ to US and Israel
It seems that Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian people, has angered, or at least frustrated, Condi Rice and George W. Bush. The reason for the anger is that the Fatah leader “refused Tuesday to publicly commit to restarting suspended talks with Israel” even though Israel has withdrawn from Gaza.
The Bush administration believes that Abbas’ attitude results in him giving Hamas “a tactical victory by allowing it to hijack Arab-Israeli peace negotiations.”
What’s so interesting about Abbas’ posturing is that “many Palestinian, American and Israeli officials say that, for political reasons, Mr. Abbas needs the peace process more than his Israeli and American counterparts.”
On the other hand, he seems to be quite enjoying himself these days; the Palestinian leaders who’s “standing up to the United States and Israel.” That will make him slightly more popular among Palestinians who are filled with hatred for both the US and Israel. It might even earn him some terrorist-respect.
And that’s probably why he’s stalling. That, and he may hope that by appearing unwilling to negotiate, the US and Israel will do more concessions. If there’s one thing the Palestinians excel in it’s pretending to be victims, while they are actually the aggressors. And time and again, the West – and even Israel – falls for it.
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