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| Israel-Palestine |
| Arafat Fails to Defuse Political Crisis |
| 2004-07-20 |
| Yasser Arafat tried to quell an unprecedented challenge to his leadership yesterday by naming a new security chief over the head of his unpopular cousin, but failed to get an endorsement from the militant faction of his Fatah movement. He also failed to persuade his prime minister from retracting his resignation. After a night of armed clashes between the security services and militants traditionally loyal to Arafat, the veteran leader said Abdel Razzek Al-Majeida would take overall responsibility for general security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Arafat's cousin Moussa Arafat, who had originally been named as general security chief after a weekend revamp of the myriad security apparatus, will remain head of general security in Gaza but will be under Majeida. Ismail Jaber will be head of the same service in the West Bank. But the latest shake-up failed to silence criticism from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades which said the appointment of Majeida, who was general security chief for Gaza as recently as Saturday, was "another attempt to fool people and is a way of circumventing reforms and change", and repeated demands for Moussa to be sacked. Supporters of Majeida unleashed celebratory volleys of gunfire outside his offices in Gaza City after the appointment, just two days after he was shunted off into an advisory role. Gunmen opposed to Moussa Arafat battled security forces on Sunday in clashes that left 18 people wounded. Arafat is facing the sharpest challenge to his rule since Palestinians received a measure of self-rule a decade ago, and some fear it could eventually boil over in civil war. The confrontation is also widely seen as a power struggle between Arafat's old guard and younger rivals staking out turf before Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon carries out a plan to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza Strip by the end of 2005. Compounding Arafat's woes was Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei's decision on Saturday to tender his resignation after brief abductions on Friday of four French aid workers, a police chief and another official in Gaza. Arafat rejected Qorei's resignation on Sunday. After a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Qorei said his resignation would stand pending a written response from Arafat. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 the paleos are finally realizing that the emperor has no clothes. He's a sham. He's no "hero" -- in fact, his greedy, corrupt fat hands have been stuffing his pockets for years. When people start to think about that, he simply screams about Israel and they stop thinking. What a scam! Emperor Arafat has no clothes. And now, the paleos are seeing him for what he is. The irony is that they're finally waking up to what Israel has been saying all along! What sweet irony -- the terrorists agree with Israel. If only they'd realized that a decade ago -- they'd have a country by now. But they were too busy trying to eradicate the region of Jooooos. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-07-20 4:11:04 PM |
| #1 Eventually boil over into civil war? I think it's already started . . . and about time, too. |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-07-20 11:24:23 AM |