Palestinian love affair with Saddam sours

Reuters | 4/25/03 | Nidal al-Mughrabi

[kattracks]

GAZA (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein has gone from hero to zero among Palestinians angry that the man they deemed their only true Arab champion was removed so easily by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"It has become clear that we all were deceived by Saddam's words," said Gaza taxi driver Ahmad Yahya. "Where is Saddam now? Why did the Iraqis not fight (more)? It is a shame!"

For Palestinians, the Iraqi president was the sole Arab leader to offer more than rhetoric against the United States and its perceived pro-Israel bias in their long conflict with the Jewish state over its grip on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Saddam's disappearance and the impression that his army put up little fight against U.S.-led forces, making a mockery of his vows of heroic resistance, plunged many Palestinians into dismay and confusion.

Most of the 3.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the two territories they seek for an independent state, as well as millions of refugees abroad saw Saddam as "the symbol of Arab honour" and the "hero leader."

Throughout the war Palestinians did little but watch Arab satellite TV coverage and took heart from Saddam's promises that the "powers of darkness will be defeated".

So they were stunned by the swift collapse of Saddam's government -- after years of admiring its defiance of the United States and appreciating his donations of more than $30 million (19 million pounds) to the families of Palestinians killed in a now two-and-a-half-year-old uprising against Israeli rule.

DISILLUSION

"Palestinians set aside their own suffering at the hands of Israel for 20 days of this war on Iraq. They felt united with Saddam and his people," said Gaza psychiatrist Fadel Abu Heen.

"This unity made it impossible for them to accept, to even believe the catastrophe of the downfall of Baghdad so quickly and with (so few) bullets," he told Reuters.

"Yes, we did not expect Saddam to defeat the United States and take Texas. But we expected Iraqis to fight long and hard," said Mohammad Rezik, a 35-year-old electronics technician. "We are very sad at what happened, sad and disappointed."

"This is a debacle for all Arab nations. This man said no in America's face even though he knew this could cost him his life. He was a deterrent force in the face of Israel," said Amal Hassan, 39, an engineer from the West Bank City of Ramallah.

Israel, hit by 39 Iraqi Scud missiles in the 1991 Gulf War, saw Saddam as one of its deadliest enemies. It hopes his downfall will weaken Palestinian militants opposed to a negotiated peace and a two-state solution to the conflict.

Saddam's unknown fate has given rise to a huge guessing game among Palestinians and other Arabs akin to the disappearance of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born leader of the al Qaeda group blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"Some Palestinians still believe Saddam is alive and that he will resurface and fight the Americans again," said Abu Heen. "People have turned defensive, unable to accept the shocking reality that seemed to close windows of hope and spread despair."

Other Palestinians, however, believe only a dead Saddam could regain his heroic stature here given the war's outcome.

"If Saddam Hussein is still alive then he departed history as a capitulator..."wrote columnist Hafeth Barghouthi in the Palestinian daily al-Hayat al-Jadida last week.

"And if he was killed he will be eternalised in history and geography as a man who fought to the end."

APPORTIONING BLAME

Some Palestinians prefer to blame Saddam's associates for the ignominious defeat, citing reports that Republican Guard officers may have struck deals with U.S. forces to fade away and thereby avoid capture.

"Saddam can never drop his weapon. I believe he is a martyr," said a passenger in a taxi in Gaza City during an argument with other passengers. "Stop it, man! He is a big liar and unfortunately we believed him," another said.

Ibrahim al-Za'anin, a leader of two pro-Iraqi Palestinian groups, the Arab Liberation Front and the Socialist Baath Party, said he was saddened by what he called "the sharply irrational change" in Palestinians' attitude to Saddam.

He dismissed rumours of a stand-down pact between Iraqi military commanders and Anglo-American forces.

"If Saddam was martyred (killed), then he fulfilled what he promised. If he remains alive I am confident he will lead the resistance against U.S. and British occupiers."

Za'anin's group disbursed over $30 million sent by Saddam to Palestinian families who lost relatives -- whether suicide bombers, gunmen or civilians caught in fighting -- in the conflict with Israel. This flow of largesse has now stopped.

"It was a presidential gift meant to support Palestinians spiritually, politically and financially, but it was tied to Saddam and his government," he said.

THERAPEUTIC HUMOUR

Some Palestinians are trying to assuage their gloom with satire.

Those who expressed their support for Saddam in anti-American protest rallies before the Iraq war now send jokes about his missing information minister via their cellular telephones.

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, who regaled journalists in Baghdad with fantastic accounts of Iraqi battlefield victories during the war, is the derisive talk of the town in Gaza City.

"Sahaf says Saddam's statues taken down for maintenance contrary to what the 'o'louj' (international infidels) claim," read one typical text message after satellite TV showed Iraqis pulling down a huge statue as U.S. tanks surged into Baghdad.

Many Gazans mockingly use "Sahaf-speak" when talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sahaf's description of U.S. and British forces as "o'louj", a classical Arabic term that also means zebras, has become the phrase of choice among Palestinian friends poking fun at each other or news commentators denigrating the Israeli army.

Yahya said he found text messages the best way to vent his frustration over Saddam's demise and the Palestinians' resultant feeling of isolation. "We adored Sahaf's news conferences. We felt proud following every news conference," he said. "Now through our jokes, we are making him pay."

[billorites]

If the Palestinians didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck at all.

[Slings and Arrows]

Ping.

[gulfcoast6]

What it boils down to is SayDamn ain't sending them anymore money for killing the innocents.

[Dr. I. C. Spots]

So much for the false god Allah, it looks like the forces of Light did prevail. One murdering, torturing tyrant is deposed! My heart just breaks for all those liberals, Palestinians, and peaceniks whose hopes have been dashed when their hero, Saddam, fell. I’m sure that they will find some murderer to replace him as their new idol. I don’t really think that Saddam was a true follower of Allah; from the recent finds of cash in Iraq, it looks like old Saddam was worshiping Dollah. (The god of the Democrats).

[American in Israel]

(Gaza Strip, Israel) -- Mohammed Qaqaa, a 15-year old Palestinian boy who has been a quadriplegic since he accidentally stoned himself when he was 10 years old, has brought a lawsuit against the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Chairman Yassir Arafat, claiming that the PLO has violated his "right of terrorism" by denying him the opportunity to become a suicide bomber.

"Just because I can't move my hands or legs doesn't mean that I can't strap on twenty pounds of plastic explosives and go kill a lot of innocent Israelis," said Mr. Qaqaa through an electronic voice machine similar to that used by the celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking. "I'm not a handicapped terrorist; I'm a handy-capable terrorist."

In related news, Mr. Qaqaa's lawyers are bringing another lawsuit, this time against the government of Israel, for not making its buses wheelchair-accessible, thereby infringing upon Mr. Qaqaa's ability to earn a living as a suicide bomber.
William Grim, for Iconoclast.ca

[/sarcasm]

[American in Israel]

"This unity made it impossible for them to accept, to even believe the catastrophe of the downfall of Baghdad so quickly and with (so few) bullets," he told Reuters.

The big difference that they do not understand is the difference between terrorism and war. In terrorism, the enemy is restrained by morality to not return the attack in kind. The Palestinians, so long used to attacking women and children, diners and movie goers do not comprehend the size of the beast who's tail they are tweaking. Sadam can kill 3000 Americans with a sucker punch, but when punched back he crumbled like cardboard causing a fraction of the casualties with the force of his entire army. The Palestinians have a far less capable military force than Sadam, and when the time comes to go to war will be swept away like a sand castle with the first wave at high tide.

Too long fighting women and children, they no longer have a clue what real war will mean to them. But clueless is the Palestinian way, as the recent celebration of their "new", terrorist fighting cabinet is ushered in by a bomb detonated in a Jewish train station.

The Jews are giving the Arabs one last chance to pull it together, as is Bush. I suspect the Term "Palestinian" will not survive long at this point. The clock is ticking on a much over due debt.

Asking the Arabs of Palestine to stop killing Jews is like asking a rabid dog to not bite. Evil is as evil does, and once the path of evil is taken, the corruption of the soul causes the option to chose righteousness later to become unobtainable. The Palestinians can no longer choose innocence, they abandoned that a long time ago.

They will continue to kill, and will be destroyed in the end, they choose their path a long time ago.

[galt-jw]

gee, maybe they ought to consider that a guy who subsidizes their people for commiting the obscenity of becoming a human bomb wasn't a real freaking nice guy to begin with.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

...Palestinians ... saw Saddam as "the symbol of Arab honour"...

Saddam murders hundreds of thousands of innocent Arabs and is seen as a "symbol of Arab honour". Pathetic.

[angkor]

They will continue to kill, and will be destroyed in the end

The whole of "Palestinean" society has gone mad. They teach their children to strap Semtex to their bodies, and venerate the murder of innocent grandmas and tourists in a pizza parlor as a bold "military" action.

These people are sick.

[Mr. Mojo]

There must be some corner in Iraq where we can put all 5 million of these people.

[chiefqc]

Pathetic.

People who murder innocent women and children, hide behind masks, teach their own children to blow themselves up for money deserve whetever they get.

It's beginning to look like the supposed dreaded arab street is a hype and they look more and more what they really are, paid paper tiger murders.

[Semper Paratus]

It would be a disaster to give people like this their own country.

[Tom Bombadil]

Many Gazans mockingly use "Sahaf-speak" when talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

It is hard to overestimate the effect toppling Saddam had on the Palestinians. They lived in Na Na land for 3 weeks and then got knocked over by the truth.

They are having a hard time now holding to their insane frame of reference with respect to their own conflict with Israel.

The whole thing has been a slap up side the head for them.

[George W. Bush]

Yahya said he found text messages the best way to vent his frustration over Saddam's demise and the Palestinians' resultant feeling of isolation. "We adored Sahaf's news conferences. We felt proud following every news conference," he said. "Now through our jokes, we are making him pay."

Well, it took a while but they finally got the joke.

[CaptRon]

"Some Palestinians still believe Saddam is alive and that he will resurface and fight the Americans again,"

Saddam as king Arthur? Sheesh!

[Beck_isright]

They are actually mad because all those checks bounced and now the homicide bomber's families are really dirt poor.

[wasp69]

"It has become clear that we all were deceived by Saddam's words," said Gaza taxi driver Ahmad Yahya.



This guy gets the "duh, big red truck" award for this week.

[wasp69]

Saddam as king Arthur?

I think a more apt description would be Prince Vlad. Except Vlad killed muslims (Turk-Ottomans). On second thought, never mind....

[martianagent]

The big difference that they do not understand is the difference between terrorism and war. In terrorism, the enemy is restrained by morality to not return the attack in kind.

Terrorist tactics appear to require that the victim be more civilized than the terrorist. When you read history books, you notice a sort of a lack of any sort of a story of anybody doing any sort of a terrorist thing against Chengis Khan, Tamerlane, Suleiman and those kinds of guys...