BYE BYE GAZA - Barry Chamish

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What Palestinians need to do most importantly is to clean up
their own government. Their government under the
leadership of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei is comprised of
many people who are held in contempt by the Palestinian
public. They are seen as self-dealing, as corrupt, and as
simply politically inept. For a long time now, the Palestinian
public has been furious that they have been allowed to stay
in office.
Abu Mazen’s greatest challenge is to replace these people
and to open up the Fatah component of the Palestinian
Authority ­ which is by far its most important political
component ­ to new elections, which have been resisted by
the old guard. He must allow new young people, referred to
as the young guard, to run for office and to replace these
people. That’s one of the most important things he has to do.
Equally important, he has to take some tough measures on
the security front. He must finally create a security system
that is in fact under the control of the central government. So
far, he has not done so.
Is that because he‟s not able to?
He is far too weak. He has two problems: first, he is too weak
politically. If he were to try to take on Hamas, he would
trigger a Palestinian civil war that the Palestinian public
would not support. He must first show that his opposition to
violence and terror produces tangible benefits for the
Palestinian population, which the intifada and those
advocating violence could not produce. And [second] he
must also show that [his way] produces a credible political
path to Palestinian statehood. There is an interdependence
here between what he is able to do and what Sharon is
willing to do. And Sharon has to allow the strengthening of
the Palestinian security forces that were destroyed during the
intifada by the IDF. So Israel has to permit Abu Mazen to
rebuild that security structure. So far, Israel has opposed
even allowing the Palestinian Authority’s security forces to