Abbas admits he foiled roadmap purposely

[cerulean]

http://www.jnewswire.com/news_archive/03/09/030911_abbas.asp
JNW News
Abbas: I avoided Road Map compliance
By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
Jerusalem - September 11, 2003

Jerusalem (jnewswire.com) - During his resignation speech to the Palestinian Legislative Council on Saturday, former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said he did everything possible to avoid compliance with the US-backed Road Map to Middle East peace.

Despite the meeting being closed to the press, the London Quds Press Arabic news agency obtained the text of Abbas' speech, which was translated by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).

Never wanted security control or unity

Abbas told the PLC on Saturday that, contrary to reports in the American and Israeli press, he had never sought to wrest control of the Palestinian security forces from Yasser Arafat, nor had he agreed with Washington on establishing a unified security apparatus.

"Many say I want to place the security services at my disposal and command and want to free them from [Arafat's] grip. This is false and it has never happened. I do not want the security services to be at my disposal," Abbas said.

According to the Road Map, control of all Palestinian security forces was to be consolidated under the new Palestinian prime minister to be used in the battle to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.

Abbas admitted that, his signature on the document notwithstanding, he had rejected America's expressed desire that he unify the PA security forces and place them under his command.

"The road map says: All security services are at the disposal of the prime minister. I did not even ask for the unification of the services… When the Americans spoke about the unity of the services, we told them we do not want that," the former premier continued.

'I didn't even approve the Road Map'

Going even further, Abbas noted that he and his government had not been the ones to originally approve the Road Map, indicating he may have opposed the US plan had Arafat's regime not previously accepted it.

Abbas asserted that Arafat spokesman Saeb Erekat had first approved the peace plan on December 20, 2002. Nonetheless, Jerusalem Newswire notes that Abbas insisted through the spring of 2003 that he and the PA had accepted the Road Map and its terms without reservations, while Israel was the one dragging its feet.

"In order to give a way for the peace process, we have dropped down all our reservations, and we said that we accept [the road map] as it is," Abbas told reporters following a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jericho on May 11.

'We surmounted the obstacle of having to fight terror'

Appearing to list off his accomplishments as prime minister, Abbas told the PLC: "The road map calls for the unification of the security services. We surmounted this obstacle. It called for striking and uprooting the [terrorist] organizations. We surmounted this obstacle, too."

Abbas explained that the result had been the PA-brokered terrorist ceasefire, or hudna, "which the Israelis and Americans rejected, but was imposed on them."

"They were told there was no other solution [than the hudna] although the road map, which we approved, said the so-called terrorist organizations should be pounded and uprooted," the Fatah co-founder admitted.

In this way, Abbas continued, "we got over or tried to get over the tragedy in which we would have put ourselves if we had listened to them [the Americans and Israelis]."

********************

Anyone could see this was the case. Maybe he did not count on his speech in Arabic being translated.

[Canajew]

I'm interested in seeing how this plays in the media (both CNN style and BBC style) and whether this will make any difference to anybody.

My guess is that it will be all but ignored in the media and that going foreward it will be like this never happened.

[L@mplighterM]

The article does not enlighten me because his actions spoke for themselves during his term of Prime Minister. The sad fact is that Israelis will go on paying the price for being Jews, that live in land that the Arab consider theirs.

I don’t think that there’s a simple explanation floating around in the world, explaining how the State of Israel came to be and how they inherited the problems of the WB and GS. All we hear is how the Jews have somehow stolen the Arabs land and that raises a great deal of sympathy. To the average individual the solution is simple, give the Arabs back their land and that ends the conflict.

It would take a well thought out massive media campaign to overcome this mindset. To quote Mao “even the longest journey starts with a first step” it’ and Israel has a lot of walking to do.

[old-reb]

One big big media mistake Israel has made is to stop communicating with the Islamic BBC news.

I watch Palestine spokesmen spit out their lies and then I hear, "Israel has declined to comment"

I went on bbc online and they had a quetionaire about how much you know about Islam. Wow! To get the answers right you would have to believe that Islam is a religion of peace and nothing else.

old reb

[Canajew]

Originally posted by old-reb
One big big media mistake Israel has made is to stop communicating with the Islamic BBC news.

I watch Palestine spokesmen spit out their lies and then I hear, "Israel has declined to comment"

I went on bbc online and they had a quetionaire about how much you know about Islam. Wow! To get the answers right you would have to believe that Islam is a religion of peace and nothing else.

old reb

Israel probably did make a mistake in this, but it is fairly easy to perceive the exasperation which they must have felt dealing with the BBC time after time after time.

I watch a fair bit of the BBC world service, and I must say that in my opinion the coverage of the Israeli palestinian conflict has far BETTER in the past few weeks than it was at the beginning of the summer and before. In fact, it may be the best I have ever seen. Not perfect, and not necessarily unbiased, but they seem to have finally come around on Hamas at least, and that has helped moderate them quite a bit, I think.

But Israel has bigger PR problems than the BBC. What they need is a comprehensive strategy and informed, intelligent, fluent (with less pronounced accents) foreign relations people to carry it out. Aba Eban must be shuddering in his grave...

[old-reb]

Originally posted by Canajew
Aba Eban must be shuddering in his grave...

We need another Aba Eban.

I had forgotten about him until you mentioned him, I liked him when I didn't have a clue what the problem was in Israel/Palestine. Back then myself and a few friends wondered why the US supported Israel when the Muslims had all the oil. How little I understood before the internet.

old reb

[L@mplighterM]

Originally posted by old-reb
One big big media mistake Israel has made is to stop communicating with the Islamic BBC news.



I’m not certain that doing interviews with BBC would be of much use, because whoever was being interviewed would be quoted out of context.

An interview might go something like this:

Sharon: Unless the PA actively starts cracking down on Hamas terrorists I’ll send the IDF into the WB/GS and hunt down the Hamas leaders.


Headlines: Sharon is going to send the IDF into the WB/GS.


That’s what you call lying by omission and it’s effective propaganda.

[L@mplighterM]

Bush says Arafat has 'failed as a leader'

The Associated Press


CAMP DAVID, Md. -- President Bush told Palestinians on Thursday that they must have a leader who fights terror if they want peace. He said Yasser Arafat "has failed as a leader" and blamed him for forcing the resignation of a prime minister committed to the peace process.

Turning to Iraq, Bush said he does not expect a new U.S.-backed resolution on Iraqi reconstruction to be ready by the time he goes before the U.N. General Assembly next Tuesday.

"We're still working it," he told reporters as he met at the presidential retreat here with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a vital ally in the Middle East.

The United States is seeking Security Council backing for a resolution that would clear the way for additional peacekeeping troops and money to finance Iraq's reconstruction from other countries. Administration officials had hoped to have it ready by Bush's U.N. appearance next Tuesday.

On Mideast peace efforts, Bush said he regretted that former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had been forced to resign. "At every turn he was undercut by the old order," Bush said. He specifically noted that he was referring to Arafat.

"Hopefully, at some point in time, a leadership of the Palestinian Authority will emerge which will then commit itself 100 percent to fighting off terror," Bush said.

The president noted that he had last met Abdullah three months ago in Aqaba, Jordan, when the king hosted a three-way summit among Bush, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to launch a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.

Abbas resigned Sept. 6 after power struggles with Arafat, who has hand-picked Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia to succeed Abbas.

For his part, Abdullah praised Bush for the "strong genuine dedication you have shown" in attempting to get the peace process going.

"It took a lot of courage to come to the Middle East," Abdullah said. "Unfortunately, there is a lull at the moment," he added, speaking in English.

Bush and Abdullah talked to reporters in a helicopter hangar on the presidential retreat, seeking cover there from the approaching winds and rain of Hurricane Isabel.

Despite initial reluctance of other major countries to step forward with troops or money to help stabilize and rebuild Iraq, Bush said he was encouraged that some nations like Britain and Poland were leading multinational forces in Iraq.

Bush said he would "continue to make the case that reconstruction aid is necessary."

Asked by a reporter if the new resolution would be ready in time for his U.N. appearance on Tuesday, Bush said, "No, I don't think so. It could be. We'll continue to work it, though."

Bush said that the resolution "must promote an orderly transfer of sovereignty to what will be a freely elected government based upon a constitution."

Later, Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, suggested that the resolution could be completed later next week.

"There will be a lot of face time" at the U.N. gathering, she said. "We'll have a lot of chance to talk with counterparts. And it seemed like a better idea than trying to press something forward now."

Other world powers, including France, Germany and Russia, have resisted taking a more active role in Iraqi reconstruction in the absence of specific U.N. authorization, and a larger role for the international organization and for themselves.

Bush also will meet at the United Nations with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Wolfgang Schauble, deputy chairman of the conservative opposition in the German Bundestag, said Thursday that the meeting could help bridge trans-Atlantic differences on Iraq, but only if Bush "shows he's not going in a unilateral way."

"You cannot have world order only through strength. The world is more complicated," Schauble said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The United States is attempting to define the terms of a more active U.N. role in Iraq amid rising American military casualties and a more expensive and more complex reconstruction effort than previously expected.

On the Middle East, Bush said: "Mr. Arafat has failed as a leader...The people of the Palestinian territories must understand that if they want peace, they must have leadership who is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror."

"I remain committed -- solidly committed -- to the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. Yet that will only happen with new Palestinian leadership committed to fighting terror not compromised by terror," he added.

Meanwhile, a political irritant arose to cloud the Bush-Abdullah session as the United States called on Jordan to restore its freeze on the bank accounts of six leaders of Hamas, an extremist group that has killed scores of Israelis with suicide bombings.

Jordan's Central Bank retracted a decision this week that had frozen the accounts of six leaders of Hamas and five charities that allegedly funnel money to the group, a minister said Tuesday.

"Jordan has been an important ally in the war on terrorists, including the financial war on terrorism," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday. "We urge the government of Jordan to restore its order to freeze the assets of these Hamas leaders and charities."

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/18busharafat.html?urac=n&urvf=10639293903080.07613177107269964



Will the real failed leader stand up and be counted. The whole Palestinian society is failed, as far as I’m concerned.

[RichardP]

Originally posted by L@mplighterM
Bush says Arafat has 'failed as a leader'

The Associated Press


CAMP DAVID, Md. -- President Bush told Palestinians on Thursday that they must have a leader who fights terror if they want peace. He said Yasser Arafat "has failed as a leader" and blamed him for forcing the resignation of a prime minister committed to the peace process.

Turning to Iraq, Bush said he does not expect a new U.S.-backed resolution on Iraqi reconstruction to be ready by the time he goes before the U.N. General Assembly next Tuesday.

"We're still working it," he told reporters as he met at the presidential retreat here with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a vital ally in the Middle East.

The United States is seeking Security Council backing for a resolution that would clear the way for additional peacekeeping troops and money to finance Iraq's reconstruction from other countries. Administration officials had hoped to have it ready by Bush's U.N. appearance next Tuesday.

On Mideast peace efforts, Bush said he regretted that former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had been forced to resign. "At every turn he was undercut by the old order," Bush said. He specifically noted that he was referring to Arafat.

"Hopefully, at some point in time, a leadership of the Palestinian Authority will emerge which will then commit itself 100 percent to fighting off terror," Bush said.

The president noted that he had last met Abdullah three months ago in Aqaba, Jordan, when the king hosted a three-way summit among Bush, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to launch a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.

Abbas resigned Sept. 6 after power struggles with Arafat, who has hand-picked Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia to succeed Abbas.

For his part, Abdullah praised Bush for the "strong genuine dedication you have shown" in attempting to get the peace process going.

"It took a lot of courage to come to the Middle East," Abdullah said. "Unfortunately, there is a lull at the moment," he added, speaking in English.

Bush and Abdullah talked to reporters in a helicopter hangar on the presidential retreat, seeking cover there from the approaching winds and rain of Hurricane Isabel.

Despite initial reluctance of other major countries to step forward with troops or money to help stabilize and rebuild Iraq, Bush said he was encouraged that some nations like Britain and Poland were leading multinational forces in Iraq.

Bush said he would "continue to make the case that reconstruction aid is necessary."

Asked by a reporter if the new resolution would be ready in time for his U.N. appearance on Tuesday, Bush said, "No, I don't think so. It could be. We'll continue to work it, though."

Bush said that the resolution "must promote an orderly transfer of sovereignty to what will be a freely elected government based upon a constitution."

Later, Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, suggested that the resolution could be completed later next week.

"There will be a lot of face time" at the U.N. gathering, she said. "We'll have a lot of chance to talk with counterparts. And it seemed like a better idea than trying to press something forward now."

Other world powers, including France, Germany and Russia, have resisted taking a more active role in Iraqi reconstruction in the absence of specific U.N. authorization, and a larger role for the international organization and for themselves.

Bush also will meet at the United Nations with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Wolfgang Schauble, deputy chairman of the conservative opposition in the German Bundestag, said Thursday that the meeting could help bridge trans-Atlantic differences on Iraq, but only if Bush "shows he's not going in a unilateral way."

"You cannot have world order only through strength. The world is more complicated," Schauble said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The United States is attempting to define the terms of a more active U.N. role in Iraq amid rising American military casualties and a more expensive and more complex reconstruction effort than previously expected.

On the Middle East, Bush said: "Mr. Arafat has failed as a leader...The people of the Palestinian territories must understand that if they want peace, they must have leadership who is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror."

"I remain committed -- solidly committed -- to the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. Yet that will only happen with new Palestinian leadership committed to fighting terror not compromised by terror," he added.

Meanwhile, a political irritant arose to cloud the Bush-Abdullah session as the United States called on Jordan to restore its freeze on the bank accounts of six leaders of Hamas, an extremist group that has killed scores of Israelis with suicide bombings.

Jordan's Central Bank retracted a decision this week that had frozen the accounts of six leaders of Hamas and five charities that allegedly funnel money to the group, a minister said Tuesday.

"Jordan has been an important ally in the war on terrorists, including the financial war on terrorism," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday. "We urge the government of Jordan to restore its order to freeze the assets of these Hamas leaders and charities."

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/18busharafat.html?urac=n&urvf=10639293903080.07613177107269964



Will the real failed leader stand up and be counted. The whole Palestinian society is failed, as far as I’m concerned.

It is ironic, we saw Abbas as the farce he truly was and proved to be. That can be said for all of the PA leadership past, present and future, as they all possess the same ambition and that is the destruction of the State of Israel and Jews.