The Palestinians are Part of the Old Arab Order

[vminfla]

The Palestinians are part of the old Arab order
because time and time again they have aligned themselves with the worst
dictators of the Arab world. Their own governments in the West Bank and
Gaza are cut from the same cloth as the regimes of the old Arab order; they
are one-party police-states where the opposition and the media are
suppressed. They demand the right to self-determination for themselves
but deny it to others. They are also part of the old Arab order of terrorism.

Many have wondered since the beginning of the Arab upheavals why the
Palestinians have not taken part in the hoped-for 'Arab Spring.' The answer is
that with the positions they hold today, the Palestinians are an integral part of
the old Arab order, and therefore are unable to participate in a democratic,
tolerant Arab renaissance.

The Palestinians are part of the old Arab order because time and time again
they have extolled the Arab leaders who make up the old Arab order and
aligned themselves with the worst dictators of the Arab world.

With overwhelming Palestinian public support, PLO leader Yasser Arafat,
risked international isolation and condemnation for himself, his people and
his movement in order to support Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait.
Saddam was the most brutal leader of the old Arab order. (After their
liberation from Saddam, the Kuwaitis expelled over 100,000 Palestinians in
retaliation for eager Palestinian cooperation in suppressing Kuwaiti citizens.)

http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/docs/perspectives158.pdf

[LeftishBrit]

1. 'The Palestinians' are not a monolithic group; they are deeply internally divided

I do not see how they are a part of 'the old Arab order' - and how in any case is this defined? The 'Arab Spring' is far from a full flowering yet anywhere; and it is not at all clear whether it will flower soon, or whether it will end up either being suppressed or 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss'.

Who are 'The leaders who make up the old Arab order?' So far, most Arab leaders still are 'of the old Arab order'.

The Arab world has tended to oppress or exile the Palestinians or treat them as pawns, while commentators give all the blame to the Palestinians themselves, as this author seems to do, or to Israel. Yes, the Palestinians have not elected good leaders; and yes, Israel has not treated the Palestinians well. But 'aligned themselves with the worst dictators' would be better put as 'been treated as pawns by the worst dictators'.

[bemildred]

3. Adrift in a sea of abstractions and stereotypes.

The Palestinians do seem to have done a lot of stuff, made a lot of bad decisions, for a people that didn't exist. Such firm opinions, and so early on. They must have been very well organized.

It seems to me that at some point we have to stop bickering about historical blame for the present mess and start considering what a feasible, viable future would look like, and what that wouild require to be done. And that's not a problem that is going to be solved unilaterally, that's how we got where we are now.

[Boojatta]

2. "Kuwaitis expelled over 100,000 Palestinians in retaliation"

Were there trials to establish that, for each Palestinian who was expelled, there was an adequate legal basis for the expulsion?

[vminfla]

4. Arab Apartheid

That is just a further example of arab apartheid. One group of arabs treating the palestinians as second class citizens with a different set of laws and rules.