Yasir Arafat always stalls until the 11th hour before a fateful decision,
often going on to make the wrong one. He is playing that game again today,
withholding his approval from the government proposed by the new Palestinian
prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas. Mr. Arafat is holding shut the doors to
any chance of reviving the search for peace in order to cling to what is
left of his power. The greatest service Mr. Arafat could render his people,
and his legacy, is to get out of the way.
It is not only the Israelis and Americans who want this; the Europeans,
Egypt and Jordan, and many Palestinians, have urged him to give the new
cabinet the nod and thus clear the way for the United States to make another
effort at an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. The Bush administration has
said that only if the Palestinians change leadership will it unveil its
long-awaited "road map" toward Palestinian statehood by 2005.
The deadline for the new cabinet is tomorrow, and the hurdle is security.
For almost five weeks now, Mr. Abbas, who is known as Abu Mazen, has been
struggling to create a cabinet that will satisfy old-line activists, young
reformers and the Americans and Israelis.
The knot is Mr. Abbas's nominee for internal security minister, Muhammad
Dahlan, a tough Gazan in his early 40's who has pressed Mr. Arafat to crack
down on Hamas and other militant groups. He has often dealt with Israeli
and American officials, who hold him in high respect.
Mr. Arafat wants to keep control of security for himself. He has disingenuously
urged Mr. Abbas to propose his cabinet to the Palestinian Legislative Council
tomorrow, knowing that it will be rejected if it lacks his imprimatur.
Mr. Abbas has threatened to pull out.
In the remaining hours, Palestinians must ponder what they want. They
are naturally loath to give any appearance of giving in to Israeli or American
pressure. But they must recognize that Mr. Arafat is exploiting their allegiance
not to help the people, but for his own ends. They must persuade him to
get out of their way.
NYT, 22.04.2003 Editorial
Russian version
An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman
Haim Goldman
Dear Friends,
Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with
-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).
Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.
The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.
“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.
One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.
There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.
The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.
You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].
Sincerely,
Haim Goldman
28.10.2006
REFERENCES:
[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a