Kindgo
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Chuck Missler's Khouse news letter---Who is Mahmoud Abbas????(Arafat's replacement)
WHO IS MAHMOUD ABBAS?
Despite the differences the United States has with several countries in the United Nations about how to respond to Iraq, there is a united front on the "Road Map To Peace" intended to bring a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. However, President Bush made it clear last week that the plan will only be introduced once a Palestinian Prime Minister is appointed who has "real authority".
Yasser Arafat has always resisted the notion of appointing a Prime Minister, fearing that the position would produce competition that would weaken him politically. After intense international pressure, however, Arafat has nominated Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, for the post of Palestinian Prime Minister. Abbas is considered Arafat's number 2 man and is secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, thus many were not surprised at his nomination. However, Abbas will not accept the position until there is clarification about his role in the peace talks and the types of powers he will have. Arafat would prefer to keep the Prime Minister's duties limited to internal matters. However, this would not be acceptable to either Israel or the United States, and US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice recently met with Jewish leaders to see if they could help Abbas obtain real powers.
Abbas played a key role in the 1993 Oslo accords, but it remains to be seen what type of direction he would take in any new talks. Some Israelis have welcomed the idea of Abbas as Prime Minister because of his calls to halt armed attacks on Israeli targets. Abbas has been opposed to the way in which Hamas and Islamic Jihad have turned the Intifada into an armed conflict and called such armed actions a "strategic mistake" and a "dead end". Even Israel's Prime Minister Arial Sharon describes Abbas' appointment as "a positive move in the right direction."
However, many are concerned that Abbas' past may more accurately reflect his true intentions for the future. Part of his educational background includes a doctorate from the University of Moscow and a thesis on supposed "contacts between the Zionist movement and the Nazis". The paper expands upon the idea that Zionist officials collaborated with the Nazis to create a situation where the world would agree on the necessity of a Jewish homeland. Abbas later expanded this thesis into a book called "The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement", in which he argued the Nazis may have killed "only a few hundred thousand" Jews, not 6 million. He stated that "the interest of the Zionist movement is to inflate this figure so that their gains will be greater."
Two of the most difficult issues in any future peace negotiations will be regarding Jewish settlements and the return of Palestinian refugees. Abbas' family fled to Syria during Israel's 1948 War of Independence and he has strong views about the right of Palestinians to return to Israel.(Wow!!! A Sirian )
Abbas would like to see all Palestinians given the right to return, a demand that Israel has already said would be impossible. While Abbas has opposed the idea of suicide bombings in Tel Aviv, he takes a different stand when it comes to Jewish settlements and recently indicated he would not oppose attacks against Jewish settlers. Abbas views these as Palestinian lands and agrees that all means may be taken to defend them, saying, "It is our right to resist."
If Abbas accepts the position, he will face many challenges, including those from his own party and Arafat. He will have to prove he can stop the violence to become credible internationally, but if he still believes the things he wrote years ago, his view of the past could cause problems in the future of Israel.
http://www.aijac.org.au/updates/Mar...#Article%20%201
http://www.chicagojewishnews.com/features.jsp#83602
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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