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The Tragedy of Mahmoud Abbas
(Atlantic) Grant Rumley - PA President Mahmoud Abbas, 82, the president of the Palestinian Authority, addressed the PLO's Central Council on Jan. 14. Over two rambling hours, he deployed anti-Semitic tropes, undercut the Jewish connection to Israel, and blamed everyone from Oliver Cromwell to Napoleon to Winston Churchill for Israel's creation. He repeatedly cursed President Donald Trump ("may your house fall into ruin"); he has also said he will boycott Vice President Mike Pence's upcoming visit. He issued indirect rebukes of Arab leaders after days of reportedly confrontational meetings with other Gulf officials. This is the larger tragedy of Mahmoud Abbas. In him, the world saw a reformist, a leader who could get the Palestinians to the table and possibly clear the hurdle for the two-state solution. Instead, he has morphed into a bureaucratic tyrant at home, hostile to America and downright incendiary towards Israel. His rule has alienated his people, leaving them disillusioned and disenfranchised. He likely has inadvertently tipped the scales in favor of a more volatile successor. And that, to use his own words, may just result in the destruction of all that has been built.