Commentary/Contentions
03 November '11
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/11/03/palestinian-moderates-praise-terror/
One of the standard talking points for critics of Israel’s government is to cite its unwillingness to bolster moderate Palestinians who wind up being undercut by radicals such as the terrorists of Hamas. But the assumption of the essential moderation of the Palestinian Authority and its leader Mahmoud Abbas is one that can only be maintained by ignoring virtually everything the PA does and says. The latest examples are the statements by Abbas and his aide Jibril Rajoub in which they praised the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit by Hamas. Abbas told an interviewer the crime was a “good thing” while Rajoub saluted all those involved with Shalit’s abduction.
The key point here is to understand that Abbas sends very different messages when broadcasting to his own people than when he is speaking to Western or Israeli audiences. So while some peace process cheerleaders were quick to jump on Abbas statement last week that he now accepted the United Nations 1947 partition plan that was made in an interview with an Israeli television station, the comments made by him and Rajoub about Shalit were said in Arabic and broadcast on Arab media.
The ability of Palestinian leaders to portray themselves as moderate peace seekers to the West while reassuring their own constituency that they mean nothing of the kind is key to understanding the naïveté of many Europeans and Americans who keep insisting that Israel has a credible peace partner. But thanks to organizations such as Memri.org (which provided the Abbas clip) and Palestinian Media Watch — palwatch.org (which found the Rajoub broadcast as well as similar statements from other Palestinian officials), the veil of deceit is lifted from this disinformation campaign. Their translations have made it clear to all who wish to know the truth that the official Palestinian media run by Abbas and his government is a font of incitement against Israel and Jews.
Having attempted an end run around the U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations that Abbas spurned for two years via the United Nations, Abbas is making further threats to entice the West to place more pressure on Israel. His goal of international recognition for Palestinian statehood without first making peace with Israel is based on his unwillingness to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders are drawn.
Though Abbas has gotten away with this double game for years, as did his predecessor Yasir Arafat, he still has two insurmountable problems. The first is that his threats to disband the PA have no credibility since his movement cannot survive without the patronage and corruption that springs from their control of the autonomous government.
The other is that Abbas finds it difficult to compete with Hamas for popularity since he is constrained by the presence of the Israeli Defense Forces in the West Bank from allowing his own Fatah operatives to resume the terrorist campaign they conducted during the second intifada. All he can do is to lamely praise Hamas for its atrocities in order to maintain his stance as a supporter of “resistance.”
Were peace truly the goal of the PA they would be fighting Hamas not seeking unity deals with the rulers of Gaza. But this fact, like his offensive statements, is the sort of thing that must be ignored if you wish to go on believing in the peace process.
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