Daily Alert Archives

Abbas's Challenges

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Dennis Ross - One key obstacle is the Fatah old guard's resistance to any change. Initial efforts have been made to deal with corruption, but they are not visible to the public. The absence of security, however, is painfully visible, and Abbas's reorganization of the security services has yet to be implemented in a way that provides law and order. Businessmen in Gaza complained to me that chaos holds sway - people are building without permits, public revenues are down by 75% because no one is paying taxes, and even traffic police are afraid to intervene if there is an accident. One would think that promises of greatly increased international aid might have at least helped put Palestinians back to work. Yet those promises have yet to materialize and produce change on the ground. In addition, Hamas is posing an increasing challenge to Abbas as it enhances both its political and military capabilities.
2005-07-22 00:00:00
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