Arafat's deputy Mahmoud Abbas says intefadeh is a mistake

Mahmoud Abbas has said in a PLO meeting some weeks ago that the intefadeh was a mistake and that the costs are to high. At a closed-door meeting of party leaders last month he brought forward the harshest criticism a senior Palestinian figure has leveled at militants since violence erupted in September 2000.

The Washington Post writes:
The fighting has put off any prospect of Palestinian independence in the near future, has left the economy in shambles and led to the reoccupation of most West Bank towns by Israeli troops, in retaliation for Palestinian attacks. Almost 2,000 Palestinians and more than 650 Israelis have been killed.

"What happened in these two years, as we see it now, is a complete destruction of everything we built," Abbas said.

A costly mistake.

Interesting about this self reflection of Mahmoud Abbas is the reaction of the critics of the Israeli policy. Many Europeans expressed their criticism towards Israeli prime minister Sharon for reacting with so much violence.
But now we can be certain that it were the Palestinians who deliberately picked up arms to fight and not to built a viable Palestinian state. It even might be true that Arafat is behind this strategy. And then again, it is Sharon who was right saying time and again that the plans came from the Arafat office.

So what about the moral appeal of Europeans to the Israeli's the past two years? They misguided themselves by blaming the people on top. The cause of the violence was not Israeli unwillingness to negotiate and establish a Palestinian state.
It were the Palestinians who chose war.

+ Arafat Aide Cites Uprising's Failure The Washington Post
+ Profile: Mahmoud Abbas
+ Dr. Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen)
Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee
- posted by DD @ 21:56 Perma Link/Print