Last ditch support

Now is the time for the US administration to stand up for Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Washington's repeated failure to keep its promises of support for Mr Abbas is largely to blame for the current dilemma in which the Palestinian prime minister finds himself, facing the consequences of a truce that has failed, an angry Palestinian people and a divided Palestinian Authority.

The US was supposed to back attempts by Mr Abbas aimed at alleviating tensions in the occupied territories and restraining the response of Palestinian factions to the acts of provocation recklessly undertaken by the Israeli government.

This the US has singularly failed to do with the exception, perhaps, of offering some meagre financial assistance. Washington has resolutely turned a blind eye to the failure of the Israeli government to implement the roadmap. Similarly it has ignored Israel's continued policy of assassinations. It is this that has caused the truce to collapse, and to erode whatever credibility Mr Abbas had managed to accrue.

Today Mr Abbas stands virtually alone, with little -- if any -- support. That this should be so is a result of Washington's broken promises and Israel's lack of real interest in making peace.

He is in desperate need of serious political and economic support from Washington. Without such assistance there is no way the Palestinian prime minister will be able to deliver inter-Palestinian reconciliation or a permanent peace deal with Israel. Tension in the occupied Palestinian territories will grow, leaving the political career of Mr Abbas in tatters.

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 28 August - 3 September 2003 (Issue No. 653)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/653/ed.htm