Palestine after Abbas: The Future of a People at Stake | Ramzy Baroud

[Tace]

Dr. Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust

Jan. 5, 2016

Although intended to inspire his Fatah Party followers, a televised speech by Mahmoud Abbas on the 51st Anniversary of the group's launch highlighted, instead, the unprecedented crisis that continues to wreak havoc on the Palestinian people.

Not only did Abbas sound defensive and lacking in any serious or new initiatives, but his ultimate intention appeared as if it was about his political survival, and nothing else.

In his speech on Dec. 31, he tossed in many of the old clichés, chastising Israel at times, although in carefully-worded language, and insisted that any vital decisions concerned with “the future of the land, people and national rights” would be “subject to general elections and (voted on by the Palestine) National Council, because our people made heavy sacrifices and they are the source of all authorities."

Ironically, Abbas presides over the Palestinian Authority with a mandate that expired in January 2009 and his party, Fatah, which refused to accept the results of democratic elections in the Occupied Territories in 2006, continues to behave as the "ruling party" with no mandate, aside from the political validation it receives from Israel, the US and their allies.

As for the PNC, it served as the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization until the PA was established in 1994. Propped up by international funds, the PA was initially formed as a means to an end, that being "final status" negotiations and a Palestinian State. Instead, it became a status quo in itself, and its institutions, which largely reflected the political interests of a specific branch within Fatah, replaced the PLO, the PNC, together with all other institutions that expressed a degree of democracy and inclusiveness.

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http://worldnewstrust.com/palestine-after-abbas-the-future-of-a-people-at-stake-ramzy-baroud

[Mosby]

1. Like the new pic

That jacket looks expensive.