The PA parliament began its long-awaited debate today on the new government presented by Prime Minister-designate Abu Mazen. He won a minor victory at the outset when it was decided that one vote would be held for the entire roster of ministers, and not individual votes for each proposed official.
After Yasser Arafat began the debate with a series of accusations against Israel, Abu Mazen - the man the world is expecting to end Palestinian terrorism - did not actually promise to fight terror organizations such as Hamas, but said only, "We shall not accept unofficial weapons possession by other security forces, we shall not accept decision-making bodies other than that of the central government, and we will not allow any party to disrupt civil rights and public order."
Addressing the government and the people of Israel, Abu Mazen said, "We want a lasting peace with you, one based on international law and binding agreements between us." He said that the "Palestinian nation rejects terror and all its manifestations," explaining that "it would not bring victory to the Palestinian cause."
These statements contrasted with an interview he gave the London-based Arabic paper A-Sharq al-Aussat less than two months ago, in which he said outright, "It is our right to resist. The intifada must continue, and it is the right of the Palestinian people to resist and use all possible means in order to defend its presence and existence. I add and say that if the Israelis come to your land in order to erect a settlement, then it is your right to defend what is yours [using] all means and arms..."
Abu Mazen also told his PA colleagues today that he would "accept nothing less than an independent state with its capital in Jerusalem, a state with continuous borders clean of settlements in all the lands captured in '67." Regarding the "Right of Return," he said it is a topic for future negotiations.
Reacting to Abu Mazen's speech today, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said, "His remarks about the final arrangement raise harsh questions whether the Palestinians are at all willing to come to such an
agreement."
Abu Mazen, whose given name is Mahmoud Abbas, also called upon the other organizations in the PA to "work within the law and stop incitement." Just a few weeks ago, however, he reportedly offered Hamas two ministerial portfolios - including that of Education - in his new government. As Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA pointed out at the time, it is not clear how assigning this portfolio to Hamas terrorists jibes with ending school-based incitement to murder and violence.
Protesters gathered in front of Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum this afternoon - Holocaust Memorial Day - to convey their anger with Prime Minister Sharon and the other MKs who have met with Abu Mazen. The protesters noted that Abu Mazen is a Holocaust denier, pointing to his doctorial thesis claiming the Holocaust was a Jewish invention. The protesters exhibited placards stating that negotiations with Abu Mazen are hurtful to the memory of Holocaust victims, along with other signs calling upon Sharon not to give legitimacy to Holocaust deniers.
Hundreds of posters were anonymously posted in Jerusalem last night stating, "The Road Map is a path to Auschwitz." The radical left-wing group Peace Now filed a police complaint against those who hung the posters, charging that it was an act of incitement to violence. The police originally refused to accept the complaint, according to a Peace Now spokesperson, but did accept it afterwards.