THE ANTI-ARAFAT

The Palestinian Prime Minister Is a Welcome Contrast to Yasir Arafat: Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has emerged as the No. 2 in the Palestinian political structure largely because he knows how to get things done behind the scenes. (ETHAN BRONNER, 7/24/03, NY Times)

Anyone who has sought an interview with Yasir Arafat learns the drill--agree with his lieutenants on a range of days, pick a nearby hotel and wait. At some point after midnight, you will be summoned. The old man, dressed in battle fatigues with his headdress folded in the diamond shape of mandatory Palestine, a pistol attached to his hip, will arrive in a hurricane of aides and hangers-on. He will grab your hand for emphasis but ignore many of your questions.

It is against such a background that one measures an appointment with the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen), who will hold his first White House meeting with President Bush on Friday. The hour for our interview last Saturday in his functional Ramallah office was set in advance--7 p.m. At two minutes past, dressed in a dull brown suit, he walked in accompanied by two aides. There is no bravado, no hand grabbing. When asked if the Palestinian Authority has the strength to take charge of West Bank cities that he wants the Israeli military to evacuate, the 67-year-old prime minister replies that it will be hard, but we will try to manage. Asked about Palestinian terror, he says there is no role for violence in the Palestinian national struggle.

Humility is not a trait associated with political leadership, and many of Mr. Abbas's supporters fear it is not serving him well among his people. Mr. Abbas is not a man of public charisma. He is a serious person of decency and integrity who has emerged as the No. 2 in the Palestinian political structure largely because he knows how to get things done behind the scenes.

The result is a kind of prime-minister-despite-himself, a reluctant leader who dislikes the spotlight.

One would hope that Mr. Abbas will not have to pay the ultimate price for America and Israel's past cultivation of Yassir Arafat as a legitimate leader of Palestine. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 24, 2003 11:53 AM