Keeping Fayyad Out

Khaled Abu Toameh
Hudson New York
10 November 09

In a “dramatic” speech to his people last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he had “no desire” to run for another term in a new election slated for January 24, 2010 – a threat was directed first and foremost toward the US Administration, which he and his top aides accused of being “biased” in favor of Israel.

Abbas’s message to the Americans: You either endorse my policies entirely or I won’t run in the next election. He has convinced himself that without him the world would stop and the Palestinians would never be able to move forward.

Abbas’s departure from the scene would, in fact, benefit the peace process and bring the Palestinians closer to fulfilling their aspirations. But he does not seem to in a hurry to retire.

The Palestinian leader is upset with Washington because of its failure to force Israel to freeze all construction in Jewish settlements and neighborhoods in the West Bank and Jerusalem. He has refused to resume peace talks with Israel unless construction in these areas is halted completely.

But the US Administration, along with some Arab leaders, insists that the Palestinians must return to the negotiating table with Israel unconditionally.

Abbas is now finding it difficult to meet this demand, especially in light of the fact that he had been telling his people, almost on a daily basis, that he would never resume the peace negotiations while construction in the settlements and Jerusalem was continuing.

Abbas’s move is seen by many Palestinians as a ploy aimed not only at pressuring the Americans, but also at boosting his standing among his constituents. Some said that he was trying to imitate ex-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who announced his resignation after his country’s humiliating defeat in 1967, only to retract the decision the following day following massive demonstrations throughout Egyptand the rest of the Arab world.
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