(Los Angeles Times) Edmund Sanders - While speculation about a "third intifada" is gaining traction in Israeli newspapers and Palestinian cafes, chances of another West Bank uprising this year appear slim. Palestinians and Israelis point to a weak, fractured Palestinian leadership that has disavowed violence, tight Israeli control in the greater part of the territories, and a budding West Bank economy that has led many Palestinians to conclude that the price of another intifada would be too high. "The situation is not ripe," said Abdul Sattar Kassem, a Palestinian political science professor at An Najah University in Nablus. "There isn't the morale, motivation or the leadership for another intifada. People aren't sure what it would achieve. They think they have more to lose." "We don't feel the occupation as much," he added, and noted that the Palestinian Authority, largely funded by the U.S. and other countries, now employs 180,000 people who "are not ready to sacrifice their jobs for another intifada." Mahmoud Subuh, head of the Yafa Cultural Center in Nablus, noted that many young Palestinians are going abroad for school or jobs.
2010-01-11 08:32:39Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive