Posted on 07/01/2002 7:35:36 PM PDT by Clive
Based on what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza, these could be the twilight days of the sinking Palestinian regime. Like a drowning man gasping at straws, Arafat and his people are issuing a stream of orders for governmental reforms. It's all being done to satisfy domestic pressures and even more, the external pressure from America. In East Jerusalem, they joked this weekend that the delivery of Bush's speech was delayed because it took time for the White House to find a translator from Hebrew to English. Meanwhile, there's relative quiet in the territories and the number of attacks has dropped, because the West Bank's cities (except for Jericho) are under renewed military occupation and curfew.
The Palestinian media reported on Saturday that the American administration is pleased that the Palestinian Authority has begun reforms, but it is difficult to find anyone in the territories who seriously believes in the establishment of a corruption-free, efficient and democratically-based Palestinian government. Palestinian society is traditional, essentially Third World, and while they do not have full civil rights, they do have social protection much broader than anything in the West. In the worst pockets of poverty, like Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, nobody is sleeping in the street. No Palestinian family would allow one of its children to be homeless. Wealthy Ramallah has no old-age homes, because the family makes sure that everyone has a roof over his or her head.
The PA's transition to an orderly, democratic structure is going to be a long process and cannot be created by panicky diktats. That is the current conventional wisdom among many in the territories who are tracking Israeli and American pressure on the crumbling PA. An example of that collapse can be found in the large advertisement that came out this weekend in Al Quds, the largest newspaper in the West Bank. Three prominent Palestinians of the left - Dr. Haider Abdul Shafi of Gaza, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti of Ramallah, and civil engineer Ibrahim Dakak of East Jerusalem - ran the advertisement, which was headlined "A Palestinian National Initiative for Progress Toward Freedom and Independence," and called for the establishment of a national emergency leadership. No mention of Arafat appeared in the ad, and there was more than a hint of criticism of his leadership. Dr. Shafi headed the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid conference and later led the Palestinian negotiations with Israel in Washington, while behind his back, Arafat negotiated in Oslo. Now, in an interview with ANN, an Arabic-language news network, Shafi speaks openly of his anger at that.
What kind of national emergency leadership could replace Arafat? All the possible alternatives have been rejected so far. Nobody is ready to consider a return of the Israeli military administration. The mayors and heads of public agencies in the West Bank reject any cooperation with a renewed occupation. "We are not the South Lebanese Army," said Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser. A political cartoon shows Sharon pulling a skeleton labeled "Civil Administration" out of a grave. King Abdullah of Jordan also announced this weekend that he's not interested in the West Bank. "We will not agree that Israeli soldiers be replaced by Jordanian soldiers," he said.
<snort> That is funny. Think about it.
Jordan has a wise King.
Bombless?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.