Wednesday, September 14, 2022

The Palestinians and the World Do Not Need Another Corrupt, Failed Terrorist Arab State

by Khaled Abu Toameh
  • The truth, however, is that neither the Palestinian Authority leadership nor the Palestinian people is ready for statehood. And the responsibility for that fact lies squarely with the ruthless and failed Palestinian leaders.
  • The Palestinian bid to obtain UN recognition of a Palestinian state comes at a time when the PA appears to be losing control over some parts of the West Bank, where gunmen belonging to several groups have replaced the Palestinian security forces... [and] are responsible not only for terrorist attacks against Israel, but also the growing scenes of anarchy and lawlessness....
  • Abbas himself has long been praising and glorifying Palestinians who carry out terrorist attacks....
  • Abbas, who is unable (and unwilling) to rein in a few hundred gunmen in two major Palestinian cities in the West Bank, wants the United Nations, its member states and the rest of the world to believe that he is ready to run a state of his own.
  • If Abbas cannot send his officers to confiscate an M-16 rifle from an unruly gunman in Jenin or Nablus, how can he be trusted to prevent the future Palestinian state from turning into a launching pad for regional terrorism?
  • Abbas wants the UN to grant the Palestinians the status of full member state, but cannot provide any guarantees that the aspired-for state would not be turned into a terror entity that is armed and funded by Iran's regime and its proxies.
  • Abbas wants the UN to recognize "Palestine" as a state when he literally has no control over half of the Palestinians... If Abbas dares to go to the Gaza Strip, Hamas will hang him at the entrance to the area on charges of "collaboration" with Israel.
  • Abbas is seeking full UN recognition at a time when he continues to block general elections for the PA, arrests and intimidates his political opponents, refuses to share power with other Palestinians and muzzles freedom of expression.
  • More than they need a state, the Palestinians need good leadership. They need to rid themselves of the corrupt leaders who have deprived them of international aid and led them from one disaster after the other since the early 1970s, when the PLO was expelled from Jordan for undermining the kingdom's sovereignty.
  • [T]he Palestinians' biggest tragedy by far has been failed leadership and more failed leadership. It radicalizes them toward Islamic fundamentalism and deprives them of elections, freedom of expression and international aid. The UN member states would be doing a great service to the Palestinians if they asked Abbas about the absence of freedom of speech and a functioning parliament under his regime.
  • They would also be doing the Palestinian people a huge service if they asked Abbas about torture in Palestinian Authority prisons and the continuing crackdown by his security forces on human rights activists and journalists. And they should definitely ask him what measures he has taken to end financial and administrative corruption in the PA.
  • These issues are more pressing for the Palestinians than another worthless document by the UN recognizing a fictitious Palestinian state that is already marked by the intrusion of other brutal radical Islamist dictatorships.

Neither the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership nor the Palestinian people is ready for statehood. Responsibility for that fact lies squarely with the ruthless and failed Palestinian leaders. The last parliamentary election the PA held was in 2006, when Hamas won the vote. The last PA presidential election was held in 2005, which means that 87-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas is now in the 17th year of his four-year term. (Photo by Zharan Hammad/Getty Images)

The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership has decided to renew its bid to gain full membership in the United Nations. PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly during its session in New York later this month, is expected to raise the issue of upgrading the Palestinians' status from non-member observer state to full member.

The PA leadership, in other words, wants the world to believe that the Palestinians are ready for statehood and that is why the time has come to recognize "Palestine" as a full member of the UN.

The truth, however, is that neither the PA leadership nor the Palestinian people is ready for statehood. And the responsibility for that fact lies squarely with the ruthless and failed Palestinian leaders.

Before examining and voting on the PA request, the UN member states need to take into consideration a number of factors.

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