(Middle East Forum) - Issam Abu Issa I returned to Ramallah from Qatar after the Oslo accords and in 1996 founded the Palestine International Bank (PIB), hoping to build a thriving economy in the newly autonomous PA areas. On November 28, 1999, Arafat dissolved the PIB's board of directors, and the state-controlled Palestine Monetary Authority took over the bank, whose assets amounted to $105 million, a confiscation of my own, my shareholders', and my clients' private assets for Arafat's personal use. Many of us who worked with or lived under Arafat see him as a man exclusively concerned with power, money, and personal gratification. He heads a dictatorial regime staffed by gangsters. Arriving penniless in Gaza and the West Bank from exile in Tunisia, many PLO members amassed wealth, built villas in Gaza, Ramallah, and Amman, and sent their children to the best schools in the UK and the U.S. The Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, an organization meant to channel funds from donor countries like France and Germany, became a mechanism by which to enrich Arafat. Authenticated PLO papers signed by Arafat instruct his staff to divert donors' money to projects benefiting himself, his family, and his associates. Between 1995 and 2000, Arafat's thugs beat up at least 11 elected members of the 88-member Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) because they voiced views in private and in public that were opposed to Arafat's. One of Arafat's favorite slogans was "Democracy of the Guns." Arafat believes true power lies in force, whether directed against Israelis or against his own people. Arafat's failed leadership is one factor responsible for the evolution of Palestinian extremism and fundamentalism, as well as a culture of death and despair among the Palestinians. Increasing numbers of Palestinians blame U.S. and Israeli officials who calculated that a Palestinian dictatorship would make a better negotiating partner than a Palestinian democracy. When growing pressure in the Palestinian territories forced Arafat to find a scapegoat for his political failure, mismanagement, and economic plunder, he turned his guns toward the Israelis. The writer is founder of the Palestinian National Coalition for Democracy and Independence, a Palestinian democratic reform movement
2004-10-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive