By: Tashbih Sayyed, Ph. D.
There are plenty of reasons for the Arabs who claim to be Palestinians to be happy; Yasser Arafat's corrupt control is gone but everything else that he stood for – his determination to destroy the Jewish State, his resolve to see the return of Arabs to their "ancestral homes" in Israel, his mission to make East Jerusalem the capital of the second Palestinian Arab state, remains in tact. They now have a President who calls Israel a Zionist enemy and declares his intentions, "the little jihad (holy war) has ended, and now the big jihad's beginning." He promises to reform the chaotic, corrupt and ineffective Palestinian Authority created by Arafat, bring order to the unruly security forces and rein in the armed militias that the Arabs themselves were disgusted with, but remains unyielding on issues like, Israeli withdrawal from all the West Bank and Gaza Strip, equating to 22% of Palestine before the creation of Israel in 1948, East Jerusalem to be the capital of the new Palestinian state and Palestinian refugees right of return to their "ancestral" homes in Israel.
Arab Street greeted Abbas with a promise, "We will give you our blood and our soul." Arabs in Palestine are happy and prepared to offer, "A Million Shaheeds (martyrs-suicide bombers) marching to Jerusalem."
What has made Mahmoud Abbas a more effective and useful leader is his ability to make the world forget his past and embrace him as a moderate. The world ignored the fact that in a thesis for his Ph.D. Mahmoud Abbas denied the Holocaust and only extremists and hatefilled minds can deny such a horrible truth. But his victory is complete as today, even Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon considers him a moderate. He has achieved this victory by playing his cards very intelligently and cunningly. He convinced the world that he is willing to talk peace with Israel and is against Intifada – the Arab uprising - without rejecting terror as a tool or condemning terrorists like HAMAS, Hezbollah, Yasser Arafat's Martyr's Brigade and without accepting that before any meaningful peace talks can even start, a total and permanent change of heart as regards to the acceptance of the Jewish state is a must.
The quarters that consider Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate forget that he has never disapproved terrorism against Israelis. He has only said that under the present circumstances, terrorism is counterproductive. He has repeatedly said he would never crackdown on terrorists. Abbas's attitude toward terrorist groups is no secret. Just one day after the State Department transferred $23.5 million on December 30, to the Palestinian Authority to underline, according to assistant Secretary of State William Burns, American "confidence in the direction of the PA's reform program," Mahmoud Abbas was seen riding on the shoulders of Zakaria Zubeidi - a notorious terrorist and campaigning with the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade in Jenin. Terrorist groups know that he will never dismantle their outfits. That's why they only boycotted the elections but did not oppose Abbas.
They realize that in Mahmoud Abbas they have a person who can keep the world attention away from them. They are sure that under Abbas's government, they will remain a controlling force in the Arab community in Palestine. According to a close Abbas aide, Nabil Sha'ath, "there are no differences over the objectives," between the Palestinian Authority and the other groups.
Being a great believer in a principal that entering into a peace agreement, when weak and breaking them when strong, Mahmoud Abbas does not want the terrorist groups to give up their war against Israel; he only wants a Hudna a temporary cease fire. He wants the terrorists to recognize that by postponing their attacks on Israelis for some time, they will encourage the US to increase its pressure on Israel. Bush has already said, "It is essential that Israel keep a vision of two states living side by side in peace; and that, as the Palestinians begin to develop the institutions of a state, that the Israel government support the development of those institutions and recognize that it is essential that there be a viable economy, that there be a viable health care system, that people be allowed to start building a society that meets their hopes and needs."
Mahmoud Abbas has not deviated from Arafat's mission to destroy Israel, he has merely changed the tactics. He betrayed his real self when he promised Palestinian refugees they'll be able to return home one day, knowing very well that such comment has derailed peace talks in the past. According to Associated Press, after embracing militant leaders in refugee camps and pledging to stand by the gunmen in their struggle to avoid capture by Israel, Abbas took an uncompromising stance on the refugee issue.
Addressing a rally in Gaza City, Abbas said Palestinian refugees and their descendants from the two-year war that followed Israel's creation in 1948 have the right to return to their original homes. "We will never forget the rights of the refugees, and we will never forget their suffering. They will eventually gain their rights, and the day will come when the refugees return home," Abbas told the cheering crowd.
Abbas's intentions are so obvious that for a great number of realists nothing has changed. They are not deceived by Mahmoud Abbas's promises to reform the chaotic, corrupt and ineffective Palestinian Authority created by Arafat, to bring order to the unruly security forces and rein in the armed militias; Arab Street's frustration with Arafat's corrupt ways and their desire to destroy the Jewish State are two separate things. A desire to get rid of internal corruption does not translate into a willingness to accept the Jewish state.
For anyone who knows the true ethos of Arab Street, the election results have confirmed that Arabs in Palestine have total faith in Mahmoud Abbas's ability to complete the unfinished agenda of Yasser Arafat. They know that within his heart, he is no moderate. His record is impressive; as an important Fatah leader for more than forty years, he was the architect of numerous mass-murder terrorist attacks against Jews.
According to a report, Abbas told Alsharq Al-Awsat on March 3, 2003 that when he met with Hamas terror leaders, "We didn't talk about a break in the armed struggle ... It is our right to resist. The Intifada must continue and it is the right of the Palestinian People to resist and use all possible means in order to defend its presence and existence." Abbas said in Cairo on July 23, 2003, that "cracking down on Hamas, Jihad, and the Palestinian organizations is not an option at all"; offered cabinet positions to leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad (N. Y. Times, March 31, 2003, Israel Radio, March 31, 2003); praised the Arab terrorists imprisoned by Israel as "political prisoners" and "heroes"; and authored a book denying that the Nazis murdered six million Jews.
The important fact that has to be kept in sight is that the terrorist group Hamas, which represents large swathes of the Arab population, boycotted the vote and remains a force to be reckoned with. HAMAS will continue to control the direction of Arab politics in Palestine. Hamas is convinced that armed struggle is the only way to deal with Israel. The civilized world must demand a complete and absolute end to HAMAS violence as a precondition for peace. If such a precondition is set then the world will find out that Mahmoud Abbas has no desire to set the peace talks with Israel in motion.
To achieve a total end to HAMAS violence, Abbas will have to persuade the terrorists to change their views - and he cannot do it as there is no difference between his objectives and HAMAS goals. After the election results were announced, he told hundreds of his supporters, "We dedicate this victory to the memory of our martyred leader Yasser Arafat, as well as all the other martyrs, those who have been wounded as well the 11,000 prisoners behind bars in Israeli jails." He promised, "I will work to put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people for they are a people who deserve our esteem, our respect and our loyalty."
Arab leaders have convinced the Arabs that so long as Israel exists, there sufferings will never end. Only a moderate leader can undo the decades old poisoning of minds. Lets see if Mahmoud Abbas convince his brothers otherwise?
(The writer is editor-in-chief of Muslim World Today, a California-based weekly newspaper, president of Council for Democracy and Tolerance and adjunct fellow of Hudson Institute.)
