Pressure mounts on Abbas to quit

[ProgressiveMuslim]

Many Palestinians have protested against the delay in endorsing the Goldstone report

A senior member of Hamas has demanded that the Palestinian president resign for supporting the postponement of a UN vote which could have led to the prosecution of Israel for war crimes during its campaign in Gaza.

Mahmoud al-Zahar told Al Jazeera that Mahmoud Abbas was guilty of "a very big crime against the Palestinian people" over the Palestinian Authority's support to defer endorsing the report, which was highly critical of Israel's conduct during the Gaza war.

"He is encouraging the Israeli military leaders to attack Gaza, to kill Hamas, and to kill people because they voted for Hamas; to postpone a very important report concerning the Israelis committing crimes against human beings," al-Zahar said on Monday.

"He should resign and he should seek a fair trial. He is not representing any of the Palestinian people."

Hundreds of people in the West Bank city of Ramallah protested against the Palestinian Authority's decision to support a delay to a UN vote on whether to endorse the findings of the report, which was authored by Richard Goldstone, a former South African judge.

Protesters gathered on Monday waving placards saying the delay "insults the blood of the martyrs and wounds our people".

" was a knife in the backs and in the hearts of all the martyrs," Jamal al-Jumaa, a protester, said.

Protests were also held in Jerusalem, where pro-Palestinian activists demanded an apology from Abbas.

"If the government had anything to do with the decision we want it to resign," Muhammad Jadallah, the head of the Coalition for Jerusalem, said.

Thirty-two Palestinian groups in Europe also called on Abbas to immediately step down from office.

In a statement, the groups said "the step to delay the endorsement was not less dangerous than the atrocities committed by the Israeli occupation in Gaza"....

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/200910523169821654.html

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. Proud to see Mustapha Barghouti leading the protests in Ramallah.

Anyone who genuinely wants to see a democratic rule of law in Palestine should be behind Barghouti.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. When are elections scheduled next?

[ProgressiveMuslim]

3. Palestinians don't get to elect their leaders. The US & Israel appoint them. Salam Fayyad is the

quisling-in-waiting.

[Ruby the Liberal]

8. I did not know that.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

12. Sad but true. :(

[oberliner]

13. That's because that poster is making it up

Palestinian rivals mull Egyptian plan for 2010 elections

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The feuding Fatah and Hamas movements are considering Egyptian proposals to hold Palestinian elections next year as part of a wider reconciliation plan, officials from the two factions said on Thursday.

According to extracts of the proposals obtained by AFP, the plan calls for both presidential and parliamentary elections to be held across the Palestinian territories in the middle of 2010.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iXwNQCat_jV0qF1VcUb6MTZVDjPA

[Ruby the Liberal]

14. I thought I remembered Hamas winning an election a few years ago.

Thanks for the update.

[Alamuti Lotus]

15. Why not, since Egypt is the well-reknowned expert on "elections"

actually, they're the expert on making sure their "elections" keep US/Israeli friendly dictators with full power. Exactly what there is in mind for former President Abbas, or the even bigger quisling with even less support standing behind him, Fayyad.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. Similar state in Gaza where insteading counting ballots they count bullets

sent from Damascus and elsewhere

[ProgressiveMuslim]

20. HASBARA ALERT: Hamas didn't count the votes; foreign monitors like Jimmy Carter did.

Nice try though.

[YOY]

4. I hope they don't!

I love "Dancing Queen"!

[BunkerHill24]

5. Personally, I think this is great and long overdue for him to resign

[Scurrilous]

6. Worst Palestinian political crisis in years as reaction grows to postponement of Goldstone report

<snip>

"There is chaos in Ramallah, as Palestinian politicians fumble for explanations of why -- and even how -- the Palestinian Ambassador in Geneva was authorized to withdraw support for a resolution he had been pushing to have the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva endorse the findings of the Goldstone Fact-Finding Mission, mandated to look into last winter's Gaza war.

Instead, members of the Islamic Conference and other countries in Africa and Asia tabled a motion -- that passed -- calling for the Human Rights Council to discuss the report again in March 2010.

"We just don't know what happened", said one official with the Palestine Liberation Organization's Negotiations Support Unit in Ramallah.

"Nobody seems to know", he said.

On Sunday, Palestinian President Mahoud Abbas ordered -- after consulting with the PLO Executive Committee and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad -- an investigation into how. exactly, the decision to withdraw support for resolution endorsing the Goldstone happened.

Then, Abbas travelled to Yemen.

Ma'an News Agency reported that "The secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, (Yasser) Abed Rabbo said in a statement that 'after deliberating between President Abbas and members of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, President Abbas issued a decree to form a committee to find the reasons behind postponement of the debate on Goldstone´s report at the UN Human Rights Council" the statement added.

The three-member investigative committee is headed by PLO Executive Committee member Hanna Amireh, and includes Azmi Shuaibi, and Rami Al-Hamdallah. They are supposed to submit their report to the PLO Executive Committee in two weeks, according to the statement issued in Abed Rabbo's name.

This, by itself, does not of course guarantee that the public will be fully informed of the results.

If the Palestinian president doesn't know how such a momentous decision was made -- an astonishing admission in itself -- then a little more urgency ought to be required.

Many Palestinian officials in Ramallah were not answering their phone on Sunday afternoon. So far, no official has made any explanation to the public -- even saying that "We don't know what happened".

more

[ProgressiveMuslim]

7. My husband is translating new news on Al-Jazaeera. Upshot is that PA leaders were

actively encouraging Israel to "finish it" in Gaza. Israel threatened to expose this if the PA pushed forward with the Goldstone inquiry.

Unbelievable.

[BunkerHill24]

9. I have no doubt he is capable of such malice

He's a pest and should be removed from office and to the Hague in chains.

[Scurrilous]

10. I've read about that.

Here.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

11. It's the only thing that could explain such treachery against the people of Palestine.

I pray this will be his, and the entire corrupt PA's, undoing.

[Alamuti Lotus]

16. PA thugs (General Dayton's army) actively supported the occupation forces in the West Bank

Israeli military was able to scale back the forces occupying the WB to assist the assault on Gaza -- insane!

[Scurrilous]

18. Israeli Arab party urges Abbas to quit over Goldstone report

<snip>

"For the first time in history, an Israeli Arab political party challenged the Palestinian leadership on Tuesday, calling for the immediate dismissal of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas has faced harsh criticism over recent days following his decision not to ask the United Nations Human Right Council to vote on the findings of the Goldstone report, which concludes that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during Israel's offensive in Gaza last winter.

The UNHRC has delayed its vote on the report, as per Abbas' request.

Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Abbas made the decision to delay the vote immediately after meeting with the U.S. Consul General last Thursday, without the knowledge of the PLO leadership or the government of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and without any consultation.

Many believe that it was American pressure that led to Abbas' decision not to pursue a discussion of the report in the UN as well as at the International Criminal Court in Hague, as was previously planned.

Members of Fatah, Abbas' own party, have also unofficially asked the Palestinian President to do what must be done to prevent this move from harming the party's standing among the Palestinian public.

The head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmed Jibril, openly called on Abbas to "go home," on Monday. The council of Palestinian organizations in Europe also issued a call for Abbas to step down in light of the damage to the Palestinian public's interests he had caused.

Commentators in the Palestinian Authority have said that Abbas' status has weakened greatly in the wake of his decision regarding the Goldstone report, as well as his willingness to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

more

[oberliner]

19. What is your own personal opinion about Abbas?

Do you think he ought to heed these calls to quit?

Which Palestinian leaders do you admire and/or respect?