30-Nov-16: What do the Palestinian Arabs *not* want?

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/jNPo/~3/Tvha7kWoEZI/30-nov-16-what-do-palestinian-arabs-not.html

Palestinian Authority boss among friends yesterday in Ramallah [Image Source]

If you have read our earlier post of the day [“30-Nov-16: Remind us again just how central the conflict with Israel is to the Arab world“], you will be aware that not only did the largest and controlling faction of the Palestinian Authority – Fatah – just re-elect Mahmoud Abbas to be its leader in its first general assembly in more than seven years, but its 1,400 delegates did so unanimously.

Oh, as the New York Times report that we quoted points out, and in a hall into which journalists were not admitted.  

Now let’s ask ourselves whether re-electing the feckless, reckless, terrorism-friendly “moderate” Abbas to be its leader is something that reflects popular Palestinian Arab will. 

two thirds demand Abbas resignation, Fatah has not gained any additional support during the last three months, and a majority of Palestinians believes that the PA has become a burden on the Palestinian people… Level of satisfaction with the performance of president Abbas stands at 34%…

Dissatisfaction is related to the sense that Palestinian Arabs live lives mired in official corruption: 80% of them say they believe the PA’s institutions are corrupt. The signs are they are astute enough to understand that press freedom is not going to make things better. Only 17% say there is press freedom in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, belief in freedom of the local press stands at 16%.

Aljazeera, November 26, 2016 [Source]

Bottom line: the Palestinian Arabs have just gotten precisely what they overwhelmingly don’t want: more Abbas kleptocracy, corruption, nepotism, suppression, missed opportunities, stagnation.

Israel’s hand in this? None.

The prospects of an Abbas-led regime bringing us all closer to peace? Roughly the same.

The one positive thing to come from this mess? That true to their core values as an honor/shame society and in the words of last week’s Aljazeera news report [here], “Fatah will give Abbas an honourable exit“.

And what, other than saving innocent lives on all sides, bringing an end to the weaponization of Palestinian Arab children and ending the reign of a massively corrupt, geriatric and manipulative regime, could be more important than that?