A toothless speech from a defanged Abbas

[geek tragedy]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech Wednesday night was delivered not by a leader but by a man being led. The words were those of a man who has little hope and understands that his influence over what is happening these days is limited, a politician who realizes that he is losing the public’s support and may be reaching the end of his political life.

The speech may well come to mark the end of an era in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian public, watching on TV at home, heard words that were uninspired and devoid of real content — as if for some reason the chieftain felt obliged to address his nation but had done so unwillingly, with nothing really to say. Besides more accusations against Israel and another lie – a big fat one, at that – there was nothing of note for either Palestinian or Israeli ears.

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Instead, as he did at the UN General Assembly, Abbas chose to continue his incitement against Israel, including resorting to telling a blatant lie. According to him, Israel is executing Palestinian children, like Ahmed Manasra, 13. But Abbas knew himself that Manasra, whose picture he showed, is being treated at Israel’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, and is not even in life-threatening condition, after being injured while carrying out a stabbing attack in Pisgat Ze’ev on Monday.

Amid the colorless desperation evident in the comments by Abbas, he did not quite sink to out-and-out incitement, like his predecessor Yasser Arafat used to do. He did not make a statement like “a million martyrs are marching on Jerusalem.” Mostly, though, he made accusations against Israel.

It is worth emphasizing at this point: one of the main reasons that the current round of violence has largely stayed in the capital and not metastasized to the West Bank is Abbas himself.

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The question is how much longer will Abbas manage to keep the West Bank muzzled. And no less importantly – how much longer will he want to.

Wednesday’s speech illustrated that the Palestinian leader and those around him are deliberating over how to proceed. Quite a few senior Fatah officials want to escalate the confrontation with Israel, especially by organizing mass protests, but Abbas is against such a move. They also demand an end to security cooperation with Israel; Abbas resists this as well. And indeed, the ongoing security coordination with Palestinian security agencies in the West Bank is in large part the reason that protests there have tended to remain small.

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A stronger Abbas might have been able to carve a different way out, but for a weak leader, this is apparently the only option — not utterly unlike the prime minister of Israel, who also cannot propose long-term solutions for the situation and suffices with promising to use tougher measures against “terrorism.”

Hence, the paper tiger of a speech delivered Wednesday night. Abbas may have conceived the address as a last-ditch attempt to win over the Palestinian public, currently transfixed by a rabble of East Jerusalem teens who go on stabbing sprees. He has long since lost the public in Israel.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-toothless-speech-from-a-defanged-abbas/

Abbas himself is one of the main excuses cited by Israelis as to why there can't be a Palestinian state. But, as Israelis are learning, excuses for rejecting a Palestinian state do not change the consequences of rejecting a Palestinian state.

No Palestinian can meet Israel's demands while also maintaining legitimacy amongst his own people. Israel will have to adjust to that reality, or get used to having the IDF occupy the Arab part of "undivided" Jerusalem as well as the entire West Bank, once again, after the PA dissolves.