Abu-Mazen Resignation Victory for Sharon / Arafat's Life in Danger
Gush Shalom: Abu-Mazen's Resignation is a Victory for Sharon Arafat's Life is in Immediate Danger!
The resignation of Abu-Mazen (Mahmud Abbas) is a great victory for Ariel Sharon.
>From the beginning, Sharon intended to topple Abu-Mazen. It was obvious that President Bush's has taken a liking to
this Palestinian leader, and this endangered Sharon's exclusive status in the White House. Therefore it was Sharon's aim
to bring about the political elimination of Abu-Mazen in a way calculated to put the blame on Yasser Arafat.
Thus Sharon hoped to kill two birds with one stone: safeguard his exclusive influence on Bush and prepare the way for
the elimination of Arafat.
Abu-Mazen's position has become impossible. He got nothing at all from Sharon and Bush, except the release of a bunch of
Palestinian criminals and an increase of the number of Palestinians workers in Israel - as required by the Israeli
economy. Apart from that, not one of the "painful concessions" promised by Sharon has been delivered. On the contrary:
the "targeted eliminations" have been accelerated, as well as the building of the Wall and the enlargement of the
settlement.
President Bush has provided nothing but nice words. Apparently, after the photo opportunity on the shores of the Red
Sea' he has lost interest.
There is an immediate danger that Sharon may exploit the new situation in order to kill Arafat, under the pretext that
something happened to him during an operation to deport him abroad. The chief of Army Intelligence, General Amos Gilad,
has hinted as much on Israeli TV.
Gush Shalom calls on all peace forces in Israel and abroad to do everything possible to prevent the implementation of
this plot, which may cause untold harm to both peoples.
P.S.: Just as this goes, was announced the attempted assassination by IDF helicopter of the Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin,
illustrating that Sharon continues to pour petrol on the fire. For Sharon, involved in a corruption scandal, there seems
not yet to be fire enough.
For {HYPERLINK "../roadmap/index.html"}a detailed analysis of Sharons violations of the Road Map: http://www.gush-shalom.org/roadmap/index.html