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Strengthening the Palestinians Again

[Ha'aretz] Natan Sharansky - I asked a player from the international elements engaged in building up the Palestinian economy why they weren't making aid to Mahmoud Abbas contingent on stopping the anti-Israeli incitement on the official television channel and in the Palestinian education system. He replied, "Abbas is so weak, and this is not a popular step. First of all, it is necessary to strengthen him and afterward it will be possible to demand something of him." I have never understood this strange reasoning: Once anti-Israeli positions have made him popular, he will suddenly lead his people toward peace? It is true that to carry out courageous reforms and educate the people to peace, a strong and bold leader is needed. Leaders like that, who understand the need for education toward peace and reforms, do exist - but not in the Muqata in Ramallah. These are people who are not afraid to challenge the tyranny of the weak leader and who believe in building a civil society as a necessary foundation for any progress on the road to peace. It is true that they are weak, but for one reason only: We ourselves are weakening them by giving unreserved support to "moderate" tyrants. It is precisely the strengthening of an antidemocratic regime and the absence of an alternative that are pushing the public into the arms of fundamentalists, into the arms of Hamas. Another generation of Palestinians is being educated to hatred, violence and the aspiration to destroy Israel. A look back over the years since the Oslo Accords shows clearly that the direction in which Palestinian society has marched is not the direction of peace. Annapolis is doomed to failure because it is built on distorted reasoning to the effect that it is possible to move ahead and make a deal with some leader and totally ignore what is really happening in Palestinian society. The writer is head of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center.
2007-11-23 01:00:00
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