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Why Palestinians Opposed Abbas's Statehood Bid
by Khaled Abu Toameh
• December 31, 2014 at 5:00 am
"We
are opposed to return to a path of 'futile' negotiations. Our people have the
right to pursue resistance in all forms." — From an appeal by six
Palestinian groups to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, against the resolution he
submitted to the United Nations.
The
widespread opposition among Palestinians to Abbas's statehood bid is a clear
sign that many Palestinians remain opposed to any form of concessions to
Israel. It is also an indication of fierce opposition among Palestinians to
the resumption of peace talks with Israel.
"Hamas
will not accept anything less than all the lands that were occupied in
1948." — Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.
It is ironic that while Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud
Abbas worked hard to win the support of the international community for his
statehood bid at the UN Security Council, he failed to persuade many
Palestinians to back his move.
Palestinians representing various factions, including Abbas's own Fatah
faction, publicly came out against the draft resolution that was presented by
Jordan at the U.N. earlier this week, and which failed to pass a Security
Council vote yesterday.
Their main argument is that the resolution compromises the rights of the
Palestinians and includes concessions to Israel that are unacceptable to most
Palestinians.
The fierce opposition to the resolution shows that Abbas does not have a
mandate from his people to embark on such a move. Abbas's critics accuse him
and a number of his advisors of "hijacking" the decision-making
process and acting on their own.
Baghdad's Dilemma
by Lawrence A. Franklin
• December 31, 2014 at 4:00 am
The
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are poorly armed.
When you
hear an occasional conversation in Persian, you listen harder, or should.
There are U.S. boots on the ground in Iraq. Most, as in the first months
in Afghanistan after 9/11, appear to be CIA ground troops. The airline
passengers who get off in Erbil, Kurdistan are all males in good shape and
appear to be members of Western intelligence agencies, military advisors or
diplomatic personnel.
The unobtrusive but well-guarded U.S. Consulate is a tiny,
hole-in-the-wall compound on the main thoroughfare in the town of Ankawa,
Erbil Governorate. The CIA and military intelligence compound rests on high
ground on a nearby mountain. U.S. and West European military advisors train
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters behind walled compounds. The American
military advisors seem particularly drawn to the Kurdish volunteers'
willingness to fight ISIS. The far thunder of allied bombing raids on ISIS
pin-point targets can be heard late on most nights.
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