President Mahmoud Abbas: This Is Merely The Tip Of The Israeli Iceberg

January 14, 2005

By Ali Al-Hail

Even hours before Mahmoud Abbas had won the ballot box and of course before Abbas’ peace gesture reached Israel Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime Minister and a number of key figures in his cabinet had already, forwarded two main awkward preconditions in order to deal with the first ever successor to late President Arafat, at some point in the foreseeable future.

First, the resistance to have its backbone completely broken; and second, the rejection of Palestinian refugees’ return to their cities and villages inside what’s called now ‘Israel’ from which they were evicted by force.

Observers had perceived these two demands as a preemptive prerequisites according to the premise that, ‘the attack is the best way for defense’ on one hand while on the other, these demands were seen as yet merely, the tip of the iceberg.

Sharon underlined that, all eyes would be on Abbas' functional performance in curbing and eliminating Palestinian national resistance.

Sharon had asserted during a meeting with former American presidential nominee Senator, John Kerry, who was among the international referees at late night Sunday's vote that,

"He (Mahmoud Abbas) will be assessed based on the way he will combat terrorism and dismantle its infrastructure".

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Former Premier and current Finance Minister in Sharon’s government declared that, Abbas should be given a chance but wasted no time in alerting his mind to the formidable burden bestowed on his shoulders.

He emphasized that Mahmoud Abbas, who himself was born in what was then Palestine before Israel had it confiscated, would have to secure a renunciation of the Palestinian refugees' right of return and was expected to crack down on militant groups’.

Just for the record, it has to be reminded here that, Netanyahu was the one who pretended on the BBC World television during November 2000 that, ‘he felt very sad’ for the death of the 10 year old child Mohammed Jamal Al-Dorrah who, according to Netanyahu was caught in the cross fire.

And just for the record too, so many viewers right cross the globe watched live on television through global television network the Israeli soldier who deliberately, shot the child with his eyes widely, open using an American –made machine gun while a big smile was decorating his face.

Shimon Peres, the newly appointed deputy to Ariel Sharon is another symbolic figure on the Israeli side of the volatile peace process, who was Abbas’ partner in engineering the Oslo Accord in 1994, also saluted Abbas' achievement and gave him a buzz personally to congratulate him.

He similarly, joined the Israelis’ political orchestra in stressing that, Mahmoud Abbas ought to (if not must) end the arm struggle, by every possible means available to him in order to guarantee a long term peace, though the arm struggle is a legitimate response to the occupation which is the sole cause of the arm struggle.

Not surprisingly that none of them thus, whether the ‘hawkish’ or the ‘moderates’, had bothered to refer to the suffering and daily holocausts the occupation since, its imposition in 1967 has been inflicting round the clock on Palestinians in Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This is a bell to be tolled ‘for whom has a heart and witnesses what she \ he hears’.

Professor Ali Al-Hail, Professor of Mass Communications, Board Member of AUSACE, ASC, IABD, NEBAA, BEA, IMDA and EAJMC American Association.