April 5, 2005
BACKFIRE:
Lawlessness Has Abbas Going After the Law: Since gunmen attacked three restaurants last week, the Palestinian leader has cracked down on the territories' disparate security forces. (Ken Ellingwood, April 5, 2005, LA Times)
The gunmen who shot up Osama Khalaf's restaurant appear also to have jarred the new Palestinian leadership into more forceful actions to bring order to the streets.Since Wednesday night's shooting attack, during which up to a dozen men opened fire in the fashionable Darna restaurant and sent customers diving for cover, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has sacked a top security commander and signed a law to push officers 60 and older into retirement to clear the way for an overhaul of Palestinian forces.
Abbas also assigned Palestinian officials to figure out how to disarm hundreds of fugitive militants sought by Israel and get them jobs in Palestinian security. At least some of the gunmen behind last week's attack on Darna and two other Ramallah restaurants belonged to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a fighting force tied to Abbas' dominant Fatah movement. [...]
Though well short of the sweeping security reforms sought by Israel, the United States and others, Abbas' recent measures signal a newly aggressive stance against what many Palestinians see as a climate of growing lawlessness.
Much of the disorder has come at the hands of gunmen nurtured by Abbas' predecessor, Yasser Arafat, who died in November. Last week's shootings took place after gunmen wanted by Israel were ordered out of the Palestinian presidential compound here in Ramallah, where they had taken shelter while Arafat was alive. They first opened fire on the compound, known as the Muqata, then rampaged through Ramallah's streets.
Since taking office in January, Abbas has sought to avoid confronting the militants. He has instead opted to persuade them to quiet their weapons, as when the major factions agreed last month to an open-ended, conditional cease-fire against Israel.
The shooting incidents in Ramallah, Abbas' home and the seat of the Palestinian government, stunned residents.
Like al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, they only give reluctant governments a reason to crack down. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 5, 2005 9:47 AM
If you read reports actaully from there you will see this is total BS. Hamas is running the show and there is nothing Abbas can do about it. Hence, Bush cancelling the Abbas visit. All you are getting from Abbas is talk. Somethings never change.
Posted by: BJW at April 5, 2005 10:29 AMHamas will run Palestine eventually, precisely because the PLO did nothing for the Palestinian people.
Posted by: oj at April 5, 2005 10:36 AMAbbas is choosing to let the terrorists run riot, showing himself to be no better than Arafat. The difference is that the fence, the Gaza withdrawal and the reduction in the use of 'Palestinian' guest workers has stopped the flow of suicide bombers, thus demonstrating the wisdom of Sharon's policies. If Sharon can remove some of the more difficult to defend settlements, then he can pretty much guarantee security for Israelis while the 'Palestinians' butcher each other for a change. Perhaps after the various factions of the 'Palestinians' pile up a few hundred thousand more dead bodies they'll see the wisdom of behaving like civilized people. But seeing as they are Muslims, that is highly unlikely.
Posted by: bart at April 5, 2005 10:55 AM