The PA/Arafat Collapsing

[abu afak]

Hundreds Resign En-Masse from Arafat's Fatah Group
(Feb 7)

By Wafa Amr

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - More than 300 members of President Yasser Arafat's ruling Fatah movement resigned collectively from the Palestinian group on Saturday in protest against internal strife and a lack of reform, a statement said.

There were no leading figures among those who quit but the unusual step by rank-and-file members signaled an emerging power struggle between a more radical, younger generation and older leaders of the mainstream Palestinian national movement.

Those who resigned want greater democracy within Fatah and the Palestinian Authority and an end to corruption.

Some observers worried that the move could lead to a splintering of a movement that spearheaded the Palestinian cause for decades, which led the way to peacemaking with Israel and an uprising that erupted when peace talks collapsed in 2000.

"We the sons of the Fatah movement place in your hands our collective resignations from Fatah," a statement, signed by 356 Fatah members from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said.

"Fatah is beginning to disintegrate as a result of internal contradictions, Fatah is not united...Fatah has not asked the Palestinian Authority to punish those who have harmed the Palestinian peoples' interests," it added.

Arafat was expected to discuss the resignations in a leadership meeting he was to chair in his battered headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah later on Saturday, Fatah officials said.

The resignations seemed to pose no threat to Arafat, who remains a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, but could weaken his grip on the actions of individual Fatah members.

A weakened Fatah could further strengthen the movement's Islamic rival, Hamas, a group that has vowed to destroy Israel.

Many Palestinians blame signs of chaos and corruption in Palestinian territories on Arafat's unwillingness to make reforms and Israel's reoccupation of parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the uprising. They worry that these problems could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.

Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Fatah official in Ramallah, called the resignation statement a "warning bell."

"I am worried this expression of anger could expand and get out of control if the leadership does not treat it right. The only solution is to carry out democratic reforms and hold elections," Sheikh told Reuters. "It is time for change on a democratic basis."

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040207/wl_nm/mideast_fatah_dc

[abu afak]

Mayor of Largest West Bank City Resigns

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The mayor of the West Bank's largest city has resigned, accusing Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority on Friday of letting Nablus descend into lawlessness.

The announcement came as a major blow to Arafat as he tries to stem demands for change in his Fatah movement. The Palestinian leader agreed Friday to hold Fatah elections within a year. But disgruntled younger activists said they doubt he will keep his word.

Nablus Mayor Ghassan Shakaa told The Associated Press that he has submitted his resignation to protest what he called was the failure of Palestinian leaders and security forces to crackdown on vilolence inside Palestinian areas...

...

In November, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed Shakaa's brother and there have been no arrests. Ghassan Shakaa said his brother's slaying and the failure to apprehend the killers were not the reasons behind his resignation.

But he said the security forces under the control of Arafat's Palestinian Authority could do more to bring order to the city.

"It can enforce the law," he said. "But it is not enforcing the law. And our people can do a lot, but they are doing nothing except spreading disorder."

continued at:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=2&u=/ap/20040228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

[abu afak]

Arafat, Qurei Face Growing Fatah Rebellion

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, February 27, 2004

The deepening crisis at the heart of the Palestinian Authority leadership broke into the open Thursday evening when PA leader Yasser Arafat angrily stormed out of a meeting in his Ramallah compound when charged with resisting reform. The walkout occurred only hours after dissident members from PA’s governing Fatah movement circulated a leaflet accusing PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei of "high treason."

The Revolutionary Council, a key decision making body in the PA’s governing Fatah movement will meet for the third and final day of its closed gathering Friday, despite the verbal clash which broke out after senior security aide Nasser Yusouf accused Arafat of doing nothing to reform the security services to tackle the prevailing anarchy on the streets.

The outburst incensed Arafat who hurled a microphone at Yusouf, cursed him and left the room.

The three-day emergency session is the first time the Council has met in three years. It was called in the wake of mass rank-and-file resignations over the alleged corruption of Arafat loyalists and the worsening lawlessness in Palestinian towns and cities at the hands of Fatah-linked paramilitary gangs.

Most of the 130 Revolutionary Council members arrived demanding elections be held to replace an elite around Arafat that has dominated the movement for decades. Although a ballot should take place every five years, and despite repeated promises from Arafat, there has not been one for 15 years, according to Ha’aretz.

Earlier Thursday one of the Fatah movement’s increasingly disparate factions distributed an anonymous pamphlet charging Qurei with "high treason," for his alleged involvement in supplying Israeli contractors with cement used to build the controversial security barrier outside Jerusalem...."

http://www.truthnews.net/month/2004020060.htm

[abu afak]

Mar. 4, 2004

Losing authority
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Palestinian journalist Khalil Zaban's daughter reacting to her father's murder in Gaza this week. The latest victim of spreading lawlessness.

'My husband is the victim of anarchy," murmured Um Fadi, the widow of Khalil Zaban, a prominent Palestinian journalist and human rights activist who was murdered in Gaza City on Tuesday. "He never did anything bad to anyone. I never imagined that the situation would deteriorate to such a low level."

Her daughter, Zainab, was more blunt: "These are gangs, a Mafia. I'm not afraid to say so. My father served the Palestinian cause for 40 years, and this is what he received in response."

Zaban, who also served as a special adviser to Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat on human rights affairs, is the latest victim of lawlessness and anarchy sweeping the West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent months. Some Palestinians believe the state of chaos, together with a severe financial crisis, could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and degenerate into civil war.."

"..."There is total chaos in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," a former Palestinian cabinet minister said in response to the killing of Zaban. "Unfortunately, I think this assassination is just the beginning. The Palestinian Authority is very weak and is losing control over the situation. This is what happens when you have too many security agencies and militias."

The assassination of Zaban in Gaza City came only three days after Ghassan Shakah, the charismatic mayor of Nablus, announced his decision to resign in protest against the growing state of anarchy.."

Much more/most at:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1078373359847&p=1006953079845

[Noam]

Originally posted by abu afak
Mar. 4, 2004

Losing authority
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Palestinian journalist Khalil Zaban's daughter reacting to her father's murder in Gaza this week. The latest victim of spreading lawlessness.

'My husband is the victim of anarchy," murmured Um Fadi, the widow of Khalil Zaban, a prominent Palestinian journalist and human rights activist who was murdered in Gaza City on Tuesday. "He never did anything bad to anyone. I never imagined that the situation would deteriorate to such a low level."

Her daughter, Zainab, was more blunt: "These are gangs, a Mafia. I'm not afraid to say so. My father served the Palestinian cause for 40 years, and this is what he received in response."

Zaban, who also served as a special adviser to Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat on human rights affairs, is the latest victim of lawlessness and anarchy sweeping the West Bank and Gaza Strip in recent months. Some Palestinians believe the state of chaos, together with a severe financial crisis, could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and degenerate into civil war.."

"..."There is total chaos in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," a former Palestinian cabinet minister said in response to the killing of Zaban. "Unfortunately, I think this assassination is just the beginning. The Palestinian Authority is very weak and is losing control over the situation. This is what happens when you have too many security agencies and militias."

The assassination of Zaban in Gaza City came only three days after Ghassan Shakah, the charismatic mayor of Nablus, announced his decision to resign in protest against the growing state of anarchy.."

Much more/most at:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1078373359847&p=1006953079845

[obscenity deleted]

[abu afak]

Palestinian areas falling into chaos
Officials protest loss of control to armed gangs
3/11/04

By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

NABLUS, West Bank -- Ghassan Shaka paints a frightening portrait of the conditions that he says have turned this once-thriving Palestinian business hub into a gun-crazy den of lawlessness.

Gangs rule the streets of the West Bank's largest city -- shooting rivals, strong-arming merchants and carrying out beatings and kidnappings. Residents have no faith in the toothless police force, which shows little stomach for stopping the disorder. The courts are a joke.

Nablus, Shaka says, is a hopeless mess.

And he's the city's mayor.

Shaka, joined by the rest of the 14-member City Council, resigned late last month to protest mounting impunity and the Palestinian Authority's inability to bring order to the streets.

"We are losing control," Shaka said during an interview in his office, surrounded by a half-dozen city officials who also tendered resignations, effective May 1. "We are about to collapse." ..."

http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2010286,00.html

[abu afak]

PA colonel resigns, citing corruption

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
May. 3, 2004 20:53


A senior Palestinian Authority police officer in the Gaza Strip resinged on Monday, citing widespread corruption in the PA security forces as the primary reason.

Colonel Majed Abu Shamaleh, head of the criminal investigations department in the PA Civil Police Force, submitted a letter of resignation to PA Minister of Interior, Hakam Balawi, in which he write that he had been unable to fulfill his duties in enforcing law and order.


Abu Shamalah, who was appointed to the job last year by former PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, said he failed in the number one mission he was assigned, namely to "restore dignity to the police force, enforce the rule of law, and maintain public order."

The colonel said he was particulary frustrated by the fact that he was unable to pursue inevestaigations against senior Palestinian officials suspected of involvement in corruption and crime. "I can't bring an ordinary citizen to trial when he or she commits a crime while influential people are violating the law and are not being held accountable," Abu Shamalah wrote in his letter.

He denied reports, however, that he was forced to resign following sharp differences with Ghazi Jabali, the controversial head of the Civil Police Force, who was the target of yet another assasiantion attempt last week.

The attack on Jabali, the second of its kind in two months, reflected the growing state of anarchy and lawlessness prevelant in the PA-controlled areas. Last thursday, a bomb exploded outside Jabali's home shortly after he walked out. No one was hurt.

Local journalists said the assassination attempt was part of a fierce power struggle that has been raging in the Gaza Strip between senior PA secuirty officials and organizations over the past few months. In February, a number of PA security agents raided Jabali's office in Gaza City, jammed his head in the toilet, and opened fire indiscriminately, killing one policeman and injuring 10 others.

Jabali's aides have accused Mohammad Dahlan, the former PA Minister of Security, of masterminding the attack as part of the power struggle. Dahlan has strongly rejected the accusations.

Meanwhile, Palestinian journalists in Ramallah on Monday boycotted the weekly meeting of the PA cabinet to prtoest against a string of attacks on their colleagus in recent months. The protest came following the attack on Jamal Arouri, a photgrapher for Agence France Presse, who had his two arms broken by unidentified gunmen.

Arouri was attacked outside his Ramallah home about two weeks ago. It's not clear what the motive was or who was behind the assault. The attack on Arouri is the latest in a series if similar assaults against Palestinian journalists and editors in recent weeks. None of the attackers have been arrested, although the identities of some are known to the victims and the PA security forces.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1083561529990

[abu afak]

Palestinian police official freed in Gaza
Captors held chief for a few hours
Friday, July 16, 2004

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A few hours after militants abducted him, the police chief of Gaza and the West Bank was freed Friday, Palestinian Authority officials said.

Officials said Ghazi Jabali was released after negotiations with the kidnappers.

Witnesses said Jabali was seen leaving the Bureij refugee camp in an ambulance that headed toward a Gaza hospital for a medical examination.

Officials declined to say what the conditions of his release were.

In phone calls to Palestinian news organizations, a group called the Jenin Brigades, with links to Fatah and the Popular Resistance Committee, had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

A spokesman for the Jenin Brigades told CNN the group was assured that Jabali would be removed from his post within 72 hours and that he would be investigated for suspected embezzlement and corruption.

Palestinian Authority officials did not comment on the statement.

The Popular Resistance Committee is a coalition of militant groups, including Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Fatah and others. Fatah acts as the political organization of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and was formed by him in 1965.

Palestinian security officials said Jabali was traveling in a convoy from Nusseirat refugee camp to Gaza City when gunmen stopped him.

In ensuing clashes, one of his bodyguards was wounded, officials said.

Witnesses said Mahmoud Nashabat, the head of the Jenin Brigades, had paraded Jabali through the Bureij camp on foot, while the entrance to the camp was blocked to police and journalists.

A Jenin Brigades spokesman, Abu Iyad, told Arabic news network al-Jazeera that the group would go after others in the Palestinian Authority suspected of corruption and told Arafat and other officials of their concerns and demands.

He said the move was not a challenge to Arafat's authority.

"We are a part of the Fatah movement," Iyad said. "Fatah is for reform and that's our objective. Fighting corruption is an important part of our revolutionary activity.

"We gave the Palestinian Authority the chance to eradicate corruption, but it failed in this respect."

It is not known if Palestinian infighting was linked to the abduction.

With Israel planning its withdrawal from Gaza, many observers said they believe rival groups will jockey for power in the Palestinian enclave, a 140-square-mile area southwest of Israel.

Egypt has expressed a willingness to train Palestinian police such as Jabali, and some Palestinians have criticized Egypt's proposed role in the transition.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/07/16/palestinian.kidnapping/index.html

[Gilgamesh]

Just too early to say. The PA is in a state of near anarchy for many years now, and it seems that can be in anarchy for many more years. The Arabs exist, with their terror organizations selling terror services to the Syrians, Europeans, Iranians ans Saudies. Murdering Jews for money. It won't change in the near future.

I even doubt in what degree will it increase Arab emigration.

[abu afak]

Militants Burn Palestinian Offices

Jul 18, 3:16 PM

By LARA SUKHTIAN

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Militants sacked and burned Palestinian government offices Sunday, the latest sign of growing anger over Yasser Arafat's decision to reach into his old guard and choose a loyalist relative as his new security chief.

A confrontation was brewing between Arafat - reluctant to yield significant power - and Palestinian militants, including some of Arafat's own officers. They are demanding deep reforms and new faces, Palestinian analysts said.

The divide between the two sides centered on the appointment of Moussa Arafat, Arafat's cousin, as the new head of Palestinian security. Many Palestinians rejected him as a symbol of corruption and cronyism, propelling long-held dissatisfaction into the open.

Dozens of masked gunmen marched through the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza after sundown Sunday, chanting, "No to Moussa Arafat, yes to reform." In the Rafah refugee camp, gunmen exchanged fire with guards at preventive security headquarters. No casualties were reported.

The internal Palestinian unrest was the most serious in more than a year. In 2003, protests against corruption forced Arafat to promise reforms and appoint a new government, led by Mahmoud Abbas. He resigned after only four months.

The turmoil came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon planned to withdraw from Gaza next year, intensifying a struggle for power and influence among the various Palestinian factions.

Sharon said the trouble reinforced his contention that Israel cannot negotiate with the present Palestinian leadership.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called Arafat's reforms "an illusion" and said the Palestinian leader had retained his grip on power. "They are playing musical chairs," he told Israel Radio.

Coalition negotiations between Sharon's Likud Party and the moderate Labor Party began Sunday, as Sharon tries to shore up his shaky government, weakened by internal opposition to the Gaza pullout. Talks were to continue Monday, according to a statement from Labor Party leader Shimon Peres.

The unrest began after Arafat decreed a consolidation of about a dozen disparate security branches into three services - a key element of reform that the United States and Egypt have said would be necessary to revive deadlocked peace efforts.

But the Palestinian leader defied international peacemakers by declining to put the security forces under the control of the Cabinet, and by naming his cousin and longtime lieutenant, Moussa Arafat, as security chief.

Protesting the appointment, militants broke into a building of the Palestinian Authority in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis early Sunday and burned two offices. A security guard was wounded in a gunfight.

Hundreds of Palestinians, many of them carrying assault rifles, demonstrated in Gaza's streets against Moussa Arafat.

The appointment deepened the rift between Arafat's generation, which led the Palestinian struggle from exile for decades, and young Palestinians who lived under Israeli occupation and now accuse the old guard of corruption and monopolizing power.

Dissent, however, went beyond the generational divide and spread to the security forces.

Navy chief Gomma Ghali, an Arafat loyalist, handed in his resignation to protest Moussa Arafat's appointment, joining the head of intelligence and the head of the preventative security, who resigned Friday. However, Arafat has not accepted the resignations.

A statement from the office of Maj. Gen. Amin Al-Hindi, the intelligence chief, said Arafat's recent appointments "cannot help solve the internal situation and the internal reforms."

"The new appointees are a part of the problem and therefore cannot be part of the solution," Issa Abu Aram, the head of operations for preventive security in the West Bank, told The Associated Press.

In a rare news conference, Moussa Arafat brushed aside protests over his appointment.

"I take my orders from His Excellency President Arafat," he said, seated below a huge portrait of his mentor. "He is the only one who can ask me to quit my job."

He said he was ready to "engage in any battle against any potential enemy," and made it clear the enemy could come from within the Palestinian camp.

Previously the head of the Palestinian intelligence services, Moussa Arafat has a reputation for ruthlessness. He was among the founders of Fatah in 1965 and has stood by his cousin's side since then.

In 1996, during a mass roundup of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, Moussa Arafat shaved the heads and beards of the men he imprisoned to humiliate them. Human rights groups accused him of torture.

"I don't like Moussa Arafat, but I also don't agree with what happened in Khan Younis," said Hisham Betar, a 32-year-old school teacher who described himself as a supporter of Arafat's Fatah movement. He warned that internal Palestinian conflict would benefit only Israel.

There also was no apparent solution to the standoff between Arafat and the prime minister of the Palestinian government, Ahmed Qureia, who resigned in frustration over his inability to effect change.

"I totally reject your resignation and consider it nonexistent," Arafat told Qureia on Sunday, according to Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat, who attended the meeting. Qureia told his Cabinet on Saturday he was firm in his decision to quit.

The crisis began after the kidnappings on Friday of two senior Palestinian security officials and four French volunteer workers in three separate incidents.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20040718/D83TCP1G0.html

Associated Press reporters Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah and Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza contributed to this report.

[Mediocrates]

Of course one could believe it's all just stagecraft too. Just another reason for Arafat to plea for 'international intervention' e.g. UN troops shooting Jews to death. Let's not forget that these guys threaten to resign if their tea is cold. It doesn't always mean anything, all this arab honor nonsense.

[David_in_NYC]

It's not stagecraft this time. The PA is disintegrating and the Pali Civil War has begun. This is why Sharon wanted the Jews out of the danger zones.

[abu afak]

It's not just stagecraft as DNYC says..
His crookedness is well know.. his failures.
The basic lack of confidence; the intifada is all that keeps him going
Yet it's now apparent the intifada has failed (on all but the substantial Int'l PR level), and the Palestinians, in real terms are much worse off.

As he gets older, weaker... his opponents grow bolder and are posturing for who gets eventual power even if not immediate.
The young wolves smell his weakness/death.

[redcake]

Are we to believe Arafat isn't a dictator now? Maybe we need to look at it this way, the PA is dissolving into various regional factions with their own totalitarian control. In the past it was widely thought amongst the Pro-Israel crowd that Arafat could reel them all in when needed, and excersised some control. So is this still true? How do we explain what's happening to those who believed all the staged in-fighting between pupper prime ministers and such ?

[abu afak]

Palestinian Descent into Chaos
by Daniel Pipes
New York Sun, July 20, 2004

"There is a crisis. There is a state of chaos." That's what Ahmed Qureia said after announcing his resignation from what some call the Palestinian Authority's prime ministry.
"We have an absolute state of chaos," echoes the mayor of Jenin, a West Bank town. That chaos, growing since Yasir Arafat initiated the Oslo War in September 2000, has prompted the PA to declare a state of emergency; it could signal the end of the PA itself.

According to an April poll of the Gaza-based General Institute for Information, 94 percent of Palestinians believe that a state of lawlessness and chaos prevails in Palestinian Authority territories. As Palestinian security forces have fragmented and dissolved, armed groups of unknown identity have taken their place, using strong-arm tactics against a hapless population. The Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group finds that "weapons possession has become socially legitimized in Palestinian society."

In gang-dominated Nablus, for example, some deaths have resulted from spiraling criminal activity and reckless accusations of "collaboration" with Israel. But, Reuters explains, most casualties involve mistaken identity or plain bad luck.
In two typical stories dating from February 2004, "Amneh Abu Hijleh, 37, entered a pharmacy to buy cough syrup for her infant daughter only to be shot dead in a botched abduction. Firas Aghbar, 13, was killed when he walked into a gang battle on his way to the barber for a birthday trim."

As explained by the Washington Post, "the Palestinian Authority is broke, politically fractured, riddled with corruption, unable to provide security for its own people and seemingly unwilling to crack down on terrorist attacks against Israel." One unnamed Fatah member estimates that 90 percent of gang activity is carried out by Palestinian Authority employees.

In February, for example, one Palestinian police officer died and eleven were wounded when rival police factions fought each other within the confines of Gaza's police headquarters. Things climaxed on July 16, as Al-Fatah terrorists ambushed and seized Gaza's police chief for several hours; and then some recently-sacked Palestinian policemen abducted the director of military co-ordination in the southern part of Gaza.

The UN's Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, has offered choice comments on the spreading anarchy, telling the Security Council that "Clashes and showdowns between branches of Palestinian security forces are now common in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian Authority legal authority is receding fast in the face of the mounting power of arms, money and intimidation." He also reached the startling conclusion that "Jericho is actually becoming the only Palestinian city with a functioning police."

This descent into chaos prompts four observations.

* The PA has joined other parts of the Greater Middle East (Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan) in the general trend toward lawlessness.

* Mr. Arafat predicted in 1994 that "Either we build a Singapore in our country or fall into the trap of the tragic Somali model." He thus acknowledges that the PA's slide to Somali-like anarchy symbolizes his own failure.

* The Islamic proverb, "Better a thousand days of tyranny than one day of anarchy," has an element of truth, for life in the PA territories has truly become hellish.

* Although Mr. Arafat launched the Oslo war nearly four years ago with the intent to destroy Israel, he is, ironically, destroying not Israel but his own proto-government.

The question now facing Palestinians is whether they have learned the right lessons from their bitter experience. That for once they are not blaming Israel for their problems gives some reason for optimism. Cox News Service notes that, "as the disorder spreads, Palestinian intellectuals and politicians are increasingly looking past Israel as the usual scapegoat and admitting they share a part of the blame." National Public Radio quotes a Palestinian saying that the PA is in trouble "because many people are being killed or kidnapped or robbed. … We are all accusing the government of not doing anything." A poll by the Gaza-based General Institute for Information finds that just 29 percent of Palestinians hold Israelis responsible for the PA's failure to enforce law and order.

This is a good start. But to emerge from their political predicament requires Palestinians coming to terms with the existence of the Jewish state of Israel. So long as they resist this change of heart, the Somali model remains their fate.

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1965

[Mediocrates]

Blame Arafat or Israel?

As Palestinians riot against Yassir Arafat, world media outlets respond.

Why do Palestinians suffer, year after year, despite the opportunity of the Oslo process, despite massive international financial aid, despite the undeniable Israeli desire for peaceful resolution? Two competing explanations are regularly put forth: blame Israel, or blame Arafat.

One view holds that IDF actions in the West Bank and Gaza create a desperate culture, incapable of positive development. The other, Israeli position has long been that Yassir Arafat's corrupt regime perpetuates the suffering of his own people by continually deflecting all blame upon Israel and fomenting self-defeating Palestinian terrorism.

Though world media coverage has overwhelmingly adopted the blame-Israel approach, over the past few days the Palestinian people themselves have made it clear that Yassir Arafat's corrupt regime lies at the heart of their problems. A wave of kidnappings, the resignation of Arafat's prime minister, and street violence targeting an Arafat crony drove much of the world press (including the Arab press!) to finally point the finger at Arafat:

● Times of London: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,1-1184973,00.html
'Arafat's policy of divide and rule has not only neutralized Palestinian rivals but stymied any political and economic progress.... Mr Arafat's cynicism has now run its course, and stoked the present conflict.'

● MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5460949
'The walls are closing in on Yassir Arafat...never before have so many disparate groups of Palestinians, including those from Arafat's own Fatah movement, formed such a united front on such a clearly definable issue - end corruption or else.'

● Arab Times http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/opinion/view.asp?msgID=514http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/opinion/view.asp?msgID=514
(Kuwait): 'Mr Arafat should quit his position because he is the head of a corrupt authority. There is no point for him to remain in politics... He has destroyed Palestine. He has led it to terrorism, death and a hopeless situation... All Arab leaders know this fact. It won't be possible for us to gain from the Middle East road map for peace if this man remains in power.'

● BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3904503.stm
quoted a Jenin Martyrs' Brigade spokesman: 'With all due respect to President Arafat, the Palestinian Authority cannot continue being monopolised by [Arafat] and his relatives...we have our own ways to show our rejection.'

Ed: with all due respect who else would you expect the BBC to quote?

● Al-Quds Al-Araby (London): 'What is happening in Gaza is a healthy phenomenon because it is a revolution against corruption and the corrupt... This is a warning not only to Mr Arafat... but to all Arab regimes which subjugate their people by turning a deaf ear to their calls for comprehensive change.'

● Pravda: http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2004/07/21/55126.html
Under the headline, 'Nobody trusts Arafat any more,' stated that 'Everything Yasser Arafat has been doing can be described as an illusion of reforms.'

● Daily Star (Lebanon): 'Mr Arafat increasingly lacks credibility and legitimacy... He has brought Palestine to its knees by relying on symbolism rather than bringing about results.'

● And long-time Arafat apologist, United Nations envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1089955402757
finally broke rank and said that the PA has 'made no progress on its core obligation to take immediate action on the ground to end violence and combat terror, and to reform and reorganize.' UN chief Kofi Annan http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040719/wl_mideast_afp/un_mideast_palestinian_040719191340
echoed the remarks. [Hat tip: Tom Gross]
* * *
Curiously, the Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60453-2004Jul18.html

Ed: it has a stupid registration page – I beg you all to lie on the registration page.

chose this moment to run a lengthy feature by Molly Moore that traces the downward spiral of a group of Palestinian youths. Moore employs the classic 'desperation narrative,' describing one terrorist who 'harbored bitterness toward Israelis' because Israeli authorities had ― what? ― jailed his brother for killing an Israeli soldier. As for the Palestinian who shot dead four Israeli civilians in Hadera, Moore quotes the forlorn words of the murderer's mother: 'He was the most romantic, the most sentimental of all of us.'

The article represents a truly bizarre sense of timing by Post editors. This front-page story, running over 3,000 words with color photograph, makes no mention whatsoever of the top story of the day ― the international acknowledgement that Yassir Arafat is the primary source of Palestinian desperation.

The watchdog group EyeOnThePost http://www.eyeonthepost.org/Welcome.html#7-19-04

hits the nail on the head:
Moore seeks to create a sense of sympathy and tragedy around this clique of killers, but in order to do this she must unfairly (1) ignore the true tragedy, which is the innocent Israeli civilians whose lives were destroyed by this group, and (2) gloss over historical facts to make these characters appear to be not only victims, but also victims of Israel, rather than their own irresponsible Palestinian leadership.

Read the article, the fine EyeOnThePost critique, and send comments to: letters@washpost.com

● The (UK) Guardian - which claims to have the most online readers of any newspaper in the world - declared in a bold July 17 headline: 'Don't Blame Arafat' http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1263416,00.html

The prominent piece, by former Guardian Mideast correspondent David Hirst, not only exonerates Arafat for the collapse of peace efforts, but goes so far as to 1) accuse Israeli intelligence figures of desiring the intifada, and 2) blaming Israel for the entire US invasion of Iraq.

Even when the Guardian gets around to addressing the anti-Arafat riots, the paper's editors can't bring themselves to call for his resignation, stating it would be 'alarming' if Arafat falls from power: 'the already grievous burden imposed on Palestinians will become intolerable if the regime falls apart... Israel must offer more incentives for moderation.'
Comments to: letters@guardian.co.uk
* * *
With Palestinian rejection of Arafat's corruption and cronyism placing his regime on the apparent verge of collapse, it is vital that news outlets recognize the broader issue: The sad state of the Palestinian people ― for nearly 40 years ― is due first and foremost to the tragic failure of Arafat's leadership.

HonestReporting encourages subscribers to write a letter to your local editor, indicating that the anti-Arafat uprising is the most telling development for some time regarding the true source of Palestinian suffering.

And be on the lookout for news outlets continuing to blame Israel for Palestinian 'desperation,' even as Palestinians themselves point the finger at Arafat.

For frequent updates on this topic, visit our weblog: MediaBackSpin.com.

[Mediocrates]

Which just goes to show you how mindlessly insane, stupid or paid-to-be-here his supporters here are. I hope you will all ignore his supporters here at IF and relegate them to the idiot-box they came from.

[abu afak]

Palestinian Premier to Stay After Deal With Arafat on Security

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia agreed to stay at his post in exchange for more control of security forces, ending a 10-day showdown with President Yasser Arafat.

Arafat agreed to transfer control of the police, preventive security and civil defense to the Interior Minister from the National Security Council, which Arafat chairs, Minister of State Qaddura Fares said. The authority's intelligence services will remain under Arafat's control, he said.

``This was an important and frank meeting headed by the president, who insisted on rejecting my resignation and renewing his confidence in my government,'' Qureia told reporters in the West bank city of Ramallah.

Qureia said 10 days ago he was resigning after an outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip by members of Arafat's Fatah faction. Protests were accompanied by calls for Arafat to crack down on corruption and share power, as Fatah loses public support in favor of Muslim groups led by Hamas and Israel prepares to withdraw from Gaza.

Qureia said Arafat, 74, also had agreed to present the Palestinian Legislative Council with a law unifying the security forces into three units.

Powell Backing

Qureia must be given full control of security in the West Bank and Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said as he prepared to travel to Egypt and Saudi Arabia to seek help in reviving Middle East peace talks.

``We need action, not proposals or commitments, real action that transfers power to a prime minister and consolidation of security services under his direction,'' Powell said at a news conference in Budapest.

The security forces are at the center of efforts by Palestinian leaders and countries such as the U.S. to stem corruption and crack down on terror as a way to bring Israel back to peace talks. Qureia, born in 1937, has sought to win more power from Arafat, who has been restricted to his Ramallah government compound for more than 2 1/2 years by Israeli troops.

Arafat and Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, left Arafat's offices with hands clasped and smiling, witnesses said. Arafat joked with reporters..."

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a3b8Quwh0j8o&refer=top_world_news


Abu Ala withdraws resignation

Earlier, Palestinian lawmakers said PA chairman Arafat agreed to give his premier full authority over police and internal security services.
Maariv News Service

http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10234

[Mediocrates]

Stagecraft. These cowards threaten to resign like mobsters eat red sauce.

[abu afak]

What explains the chaos?
By DAOUD KUTTAB
8/1/04 JPost

What has been happening in Gaza and the West Bank over these past several weeks has left many outside observers – not to mention locals – perplexed. News reports talk of chaos in the Palestinian areas, with government offices torched, foreigners kidnapped, and a general spiral of lawlessness.

How much of this is indigenous to internal Palestinian politics, and how much of it is can be attributed to outside factors?

There are far more questions than answers. If the atmosphere of chaos was set up, who set it up? For what reason – and for whose benefit?

Who are the key players in this political theater? Some of the more visible players are known, but who are the behind-the-scenes actors? What is the role of Egypt, the US; and, most importantly, what is the Israeli role?

Who made the assassination attempt against former PA information minister Nabil Amer? He is now being operated on in Germany for wounds that may result in the amputation of one of his legs.

Finally, what should be the position of Palestinian political parties and the Palestinian body politic?

Part of the story is clear. There is no doubt that the lawlessness in Gaza, Ramallah, Nablus, and Jenin, is part of an internal Palestinian power struggle mostly within the ruling Fatah Party.

Some of the players in this struggle are well known – from Yasser Arafat to Fatah central committee member and PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei (Abu Ala'a) to revolutionary council member Muhammad Dahlan (though he denies having anything to do with what is happening in Gaza).

Another obvious explanation for the lawlessness is the struggle between older and younger Fatah leaders. Since its inception in 1966 Fatah has held only five general assemblies, the last of which was in 1976. Attempts by young local Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to prepare for a sixth congress were dashed with his arrest by the Israelis nearly two years ago.

While the call for internal elections has been the battle cry of many young leaders, older Fatah leaders seem to be fighting for positions and power rather than for a democratic process for the movement as a whole.

The issue of corruption is also a major topic of discussion, although there is disagreement about whether it is a genuine issue of contention or an emotional topic manipulated because it generates tension.

Then there is another obvious source of tension involving the Palestinian security forces, which are largely made up of Fatah cadres. Many veteran soldiers and officers are fighting for title, rank and influence, while younger intifada cadres are fighting for influence, and in many cases also for a guaranteed regular monthly salary.

For their part, Hamas and other Palestinian factions have been mostly sidelined. Publicly they have expressed a policy of non-interference, but it is clear that they are worried about the long-term affects of this internal conflict on the overall Palestinian position.

The US, Egypt and even Israel have generally expressed similar positions although there is no doubt that all are hoping for a weakened Arafat and a more flexible, pragmatic new leadership for the Palestinians.

America and Israel bear a level of responsibility for the present crisis because of their ostracism of Arafat even as he remains in power. As a result a weird situation has developed in which the elected and legitimate leader of the Palestinians has been forced to administer Gaza by remote control. And he can only meet with those officials from Gaza whom Israeli authorities allow out of the Strip and into Ramallah.

Despite all that has happened there are many hopeful Palestinian voices who are expecting that this internal conflict will result in a process that leads to reform within the Palestinian national movement.

Other Palestinians fear that the main loser in all this fighting will be the Palestinian people themselves. They argue that the Palestinian side may have lost an opportunity to make capital from the historic decision of the International Court of Justice at The Hague regarding the wall and the subsequent positive UN General Assembly decision on the matter.

The truth about what is happening behind closed doors in the Mukata, in Gaza, and within the Fatah movement is still far from the eyes and ears of average Palestinians.

Since the Fatah movement has taken upon itself the daunting task of leading the Palestinian struggle and controlling the government and security apparatus, the Palestinian public deserves to know the facts behind what is happening in order to understand their consequences.

The writer is a Palestinian journalist and director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Quds University in Ramallah.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1091330217834&apage=2

(above is an Arab view and contains a few things I don't agree with.. abu)

[Mediocrates]

First off, it's largely stagecraft. There is no meaningful dissent or resistance amongst the PLO faithful. They are merely squabbling over who gets paid first. What triggered this was some local resistance to an even more corrupt thug like Arafat's kin taking over the pursestrings in Gaza. They want to run their own criminal enterprises and just pay the Arafat tax w/o giving up all of their turf to the head mobster. Now all they are doing is shooting each other over the same thing that crack dealers shoot each other over. Arafat has to give this gangland fight a good UK Guardian/BBC/UN/EU friendly spin and all call it a struggle for the hearts and minds yadda yadda... But at the end of the day it's just a gang war for the money that the master murderers and terrorists in EU-UN central send them each month.

It's all good. If the best thing that a 'disinterested third party' can come up with is that it's the Jew's fault [& the US it's great puppet, or was it the other way around..?] then they will do nothing to fix anything and it will all churn and degrade and flare up.

[Mediocrates]

Hamas announced today that Gaza is theirs after the Israelis leave. They didn't make a grand rhetorical flourish like they usually do.

http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10469

"Hamas declares in internal documents its wish to take over large sections of the strip in addition to decision making centers in order to ensure that the Palestinian Authority “does not do as it pleases the day after disengagement”.

The terror group also promise to continue with the terror attacks even after the expected Israeli pullout from Gaza. According to the documents, Hamas is keeping a close eye on events in the PA."

Now the only question is is this a bad thing. On the one hand divide and conquer is a good approach and the PLO can rapidly implode as it stuggles to manage its criminal enterprise. Moreover, Hamas, which openly says it's dedicated to genocide could he held up as the legitimate government in Gaza and their patrons in the EU would be forced to openly support them, bless them with cash and prizes and generally erase 40 years of pretending the their final solution is a dead project. Moreover since their success will depend on Arab on Arab violence which is never acknowledged as actually existing in the west could proceed more or less unabated.

On the other hand it would lead to anarchy, civil uprisings and the like which aren't all that important but, and here is the problem, it would create the appearance of YAHAD [yet another humanitarian aid disaster]. This would trigger the inevitable calls from the EU/UN, the main sponsors of Hamas and company, for the Israelis to manage their UN caused civil war for them. At the very least there would be condemnations that Israel didn't give each Gazan a new car, house, donkey and a lifetime supply of bullets. At the same time, dribbling babbling Yassir Droolafat would be protrayed as a victim [or heroic liberator depending on whether you read the Guardian or not] who needs immediate international interdiction to wrest his criminal enterprise state from one group of murdering terrorists and hand it to another.

So it's complicated: let it implode and then deal with the devil you know wants you dead or prevent that and maintain the same permanent stalemate.

[Mediocrates]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1091675654875

Aksa leader: Intifada is in its death throes

It's not so much what Zakariya Zubeidi, the fugitive leader of the West Bank Aksa Martyrs Brigades, says, but how he says it. Zubeidi speaks in the vacant tones of a ghost.

And four years after he first picked up a rifle, this peace-activist-turned-local-hero-and-killer eulogized the Palestinian intifada in words similar to those in which he described himself.

"The intifada is in its death throes. These are the final stages – this I can confirm," he said on Wednesday.

He held court in a safe house overlooking the Jenin refugee camp, now a sprawling complex of glimmering pastel-colored townhouses.

If anyone embodies the intifada on the eve of its fourth anniversary, it is Zubeidi. The 28-year-old Aksa chief boasts a pedigree of martyrdom: Zubeidi's mother was shot dead in the battle of Jenin, as was one of his brothers. Two other brothers are in Israeli prisons. His father died of a skin cancer that the family says went untreated while he served a prison term for political activism against Israel during the first intifada.

All this death and poverty – according to the World Bank, 52 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty line – has left the people "as exhausted as they were after the first intifada."

All I can say is that whoever believes this nonsense and is sucked in by it is a fool. If anything military operations against must be intensified right now and they must be absolutely obliterated and crushed into the dirt. If Israel decides to let these people off then they deserve whatever happens to them. If nothing else the SPIRIT of the Intifada as well as its mechanics must finally for all the arab world to see, be ruthlessly torn apart, its leaders and middle level managers killed or put in prison for life.

[Oh Jerusalem]

The usual "blame the Jews and Crusaders" game:

Fatah splinter group calls for killing Arafat (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093067900259&p=1078397702269)
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

A leaflet distributed over the weekend by a hitherto unknown group called Fatah – The Reformist Path called for replacing the Palestinian leadership and threatened to liquidate Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and many of his top aides.

It's not clear who stands behind the leaflet, but some senior PA officials have pointed a blaming finger at former security minister Muhammad Dahlan. They said that when Arafat saw the leaflet, he cancelled a meeting planned with Dahlan last week.

Dahlan has strongly denied responsibility for the leaflet, arguing that it was yet another attempt by his rivals to drive a wedge between him and Arafat.

This is the first time that a leaflet signed by a Fatah affiliated group calls for eliminating Arafat. Most Fatah leaders and activists who have been demanding reforms and an end to corruption in the PA have refrained from attacking Arafat personally, directing their anger instead at top officials in the PA chairman's entourage.

The leaflet, which is seen as yet another sign of growing tensions among the top brass of the PA, launched a scathing attack on a number of veteran Fatah leaders and PA officials, accusing them of stealing funds, lying, and collaboration with Israel. Among those mentioned are Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, Interior Minister Hakam Balawi, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, Fatah Central Committee members Hani al-Hassan, Abbas Zakariya al-Agha, and Sakher Habash, as well as Arafat and former PA prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.

"They are all standing as an obstacle to development and are a heavy burden on Fatah," the pamphlet said. "They must all go away before they are killed, and we mean what we say." It called for dissolving the Fatah Central Committee, which is dominated by veteran Arafat loyalists and for the establishment of an emergency leadership consisting of representatives of the young generation.

The leaflet also called for forming criminal and political courts to try all those who have abused their power and embezzled public funds.

One of the Fatah leaders whose name appeared in the leaflet told The Jerusalem Post that he was convinced that Israel and the US were behind it. "Israel and Washington are playing a filthy game with us," he charged. "Unfortunately, they have found some Palestinian puppets to assist them in their scheme."

Another Fatah official said he did not rule out the possibility that Dahlan and some of his followers in the Gaza Strip were behind the leaflet. "Now that it is clear that Dahlan has failed in his campaign against the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people, he is resorting to these cheap methods of slander and bad-mouthing, he added."

Sources in Ramallah said the timing of the leaflet was "suspicious" because it came on the eve of a planned reconciliation between Arafat and Dahlan. The two were set to meet last week for the first time since Arafat aides accused Dahlan of launching a campaign to overthrow the PA leadership.

Arafat called off the meeting after the leaflet was distributed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, a source close to Arafat said on Saturday that the long-awaited meeting could still take place sometime this week.

"Obviously, those who published the leaflet were trying to sabotage any attempt at reconciliation between Arafat and Dahlan," the source explained. "Arafat is still interested in meeting with Dahlan."

Last week Arafat dispatched PA National Security Adviser Jibril Rajoub to a meeting with Arab journalists in Jordan to counter Dahlan's demands for reforms and allegations of widespread corruption in the PA.

"Dahlan lies whenever he opens his mouth," Rajoub told the journalists. "When he says that he is working with [jailed Fatah leader] Marwan Barghouti he is lying." Rajoub claimed that Dahlan met with Barghouti shortly before he was arrested by the IDF in Ramallah to seek his backing, but was turned down.

"Barghouti told him that if he wanted to take over he should go for elections in Fatah," he said. "But Dahlan's response was that he wants the authority through a popular uprising like that of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran."

Rajoub scoffed at Dahlan's anti-corruption campaign, saying he should be the last person to talk about transparency and reforms.

[Oh Jerusalem]

Gunmen shoot PA intelligence officer in Gaza (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093402924515&p=1078397702269)
By ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JPOST.COM STAFF

Gunmen opened fire at a convoy in the Gaza Strip carrying the deputy Palestinian intelligence chief on Wednesday, wounding him the chest, Palestinian medical officials said.

His bodyguard was killed and two other people were wounded, Israel Radio reported.

Tareq Abu Rajab's car flipped over after the shooting, the officials said. He was rushed to a hospital and was undergoing surgery, the officials said.

There was no word on who carried out the shooting. Rajab is an old ally of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

The Gaza Strip has seen a wave of internal violence in recent months, as various factions vie for power ahead of a planned Israeli pullout next year.

[Oh Jerusalem]

Stupid Jews. :o

PA Official Caught Smuggling Weapons and Ammo (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=67888)
11:30 Aug 25, '04 / 8 Elul 5764

(IsraelNN.com) A senior official of the Palestinian Authority was caught yesterday near Ramallah by IDF soldiers as he was attempting to smuggle weapons and ammunition in his vehicle. The official, Jamil Tarifi, in charge of "civil affairs" in the Yasser Arafat's PA cabinet, was allowed to continue on his way after soldiers confiscated the weaponry.

[Oh Jerusalem]

Going around in circles.

Palestinian legislature approves call for reform (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093325272475&p=1078397702269)
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RAMALLAH, West Bank

The Palestinian Legislative Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly accepted a set of recommendations calling for reforms in the Palestinian Authority.

Critics complained, however, that the proposal was vague and fell far short of the sweeping overhaul needed to clean up the corruption-plagued government.

PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has been under growing pressure to reform the government and relinquish some of his powers. During a decade as head of the PA, Arafat has repeatedly brushed off calls to reform.

Responding to an unprecedented wave of kidnappings, protests and other violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the PLC threatened to go on strike last month. Instead, they formed a 14-member committee to negotiate with Arafat on implementing reforms.

On Wednesday, the committee presented its recommendations to the PLC, which approved it by a 31-12 margin.

The recommendations included forming a viable government capable of fighting corruption more effectively and restoring law and order. It also called on Arafat to follow through on promises made in a speech last week to crack down on graft.

Arafat said on Tuesday that there is no need for a new law or "presidential decree" to implement reforms in the PA and that his speech from last week should be endorsed as an official document.

In his speech before the PLC, Arafat admitted to making mistakes and vowed to fight corruption and implement reforms in the PA.

But frustrated legislators have argued that the speech was not enough, demanding that Arafat sign a "presidential decree" authorizing the PA cabinet and judicial system to take serious measures to stem out corruption and introduce reforms.

"We can't fight corruption with words and speeches," said one legislator. "We need written laws and decrees signed by Arafat."

Arafat last week refused to sign such a document and kicked a group of legislators out of his office, accusing them of seeking to undermine his authority.

The legislators met twice with Arafat in the past 48 hours and implored him to sign a decree calling for major security and financial reforms. However, Arafat once again rejected the demand, explaining that his speech from last week was sufficient.

"The PLC should endorse my speech as an official document," one of the legislators quoted Arafat as saying. "There is no need for a law and the cabinet has a free hand to deal with all the issues of corruption."

The legislator said he and his colleagues are now convinced that Arafat does not want to bring about any positive changes in the PA. "He's just trying to win more time," he said. "He thinks everything is a conspiracy against him."

One of the committee members, Jamal Shati, said on Tuesday that the team has failed in persuading Arafat to accept its demands.

Some legislators told The Jerusalem Post that they are now considering suspending the work of the PLC or resigning en masse to protest against Arafat's refusal to heed calls for reforms.

Legislator Azmi Shauibi said a third option would be to hold a vote of no-confidence against the cabinet of PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and to publish the names of ministers suspected of involvement in corruption scandals.

The PLC was scheduled to convene in Ramallah on Tuesday but was postponed to allow Arafat more time to reconsider his position. The official reason given for the postponement of the session was the ongoing hunger strike declared by thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Legislator Abbas Zaki, who is closely associated with Arafat, said that the session was postponed because of the general strike being held in the West Bank in solidarity with the prisoners.
"
It is not reasonable to hold a meeting of the PLC, which represents the Palestinian people, as our people are staging a general strike," he said.