Monday, April 7, 2003
Ha'aretz - Article Arafat must go.
Yasser Arafat continues to control both the most marginal and most important appointments in the Palestinian Authority.
For the last three weeks, ever since the Palestinian Legislative Council gave Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) the job of forming a cabinet as prime minister, and after innumerable legal tussles in the council over Arafat's authority in the era after the government is formed, it is becoming clear that Abu Mazen's mission is a lot more difficult than it originally appeared.
In the initial days after his appointment, Abu Mazen spread the word he wanted to appoint a government of technocrats that would lead to real change in the PA. But reality appears to have overruled him. In recent days, he has sent messages to Arafat and Arafat associates that he is considering giving up the effort.[...]
For the last three weeks, ever since the Palestinian Legislative Council gave Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) the job of forming a cabinet as prime minister, and after innumerable legal tussles in the council over Arafat's authority in the era after the government is formed, it is becoming clear that Abu Mazen's mission is a lot more difficult than it originally appeared.
In the initial days after his appointment, Abu Mazen spread the word he wanted to appoint a government of technocrats that would lead to real change in the PA. But reality appears to have overruled him. In recent days, he has sent messages to Arafat and Arafat associates that he is considering giving up the effort.[...]
Also of interest, the second part of the article concerns an editorial in an Israeli Arab paper that attacks the Israeli Arab leadership for not taking a more active role in condemning Israeli Arab support for "hostile activity against the state."
