The Palestinian elections,
which will be held in January 2004 cannot be free. Free election on one
hand, and the nature of the Palestinian Authority on the other hand,
constitute an oxymoron.
Elections do not become free
through rhetoric, even when the rhetoric is uttered by leaders of
respectable nations and by media and academia stars.
Elections do not
constitute a magic wand, which transforms totalitarian regimes into
democracies. On the other hand, it is a free society, which is a
critical prerequisite for Free Elections; a Free Society, which is based on
the rights of the individual, rather than the rights of the ruler.
Free elections are the
by-product of a society, where citizens accord certain rights to their
government. Free elections cannot be a by product of societies, where
regimes accords certain rights to their subjects, eliminate their opponents
and brainwash their population with hate-education. Elections held by a
non-free society are inherently non-free, even if prestigious evening
news anchormen and press conferences in Jerusalem, London, the UN and
Washington, DC refer to them as “free elections”. My late friend from Athens
Texas would have said that “It doesn’t matter how much lipstick and make-up
you apply to a Doberman, it will always be a Doberman and never a Poodle.”
The January 2004 elections
will deal a severe blow to the hopes of Palestinians to be liberated from
the oppressive regime, which was imposed on them by “The Tunisians”: Arafat,
Abu Mazen, Abu Ala`, Dahlan, Rajoub and other members of the PLO, who have
been considered – by fellow Arabs – as the role model of treachery,
corruption, intolerance and terrorism. These elections will accord further
Western legitimacy to the political, ideological and financial
infrastructure of Palestinian terrorism, and will therefore deal a setback
to the pursuit of peace. The coming Palestinian elections will raise further
doubts about the capabilities of post-1992 Israeli leaders to benefit from
the lessons of the 1996 Palestinian elections, from the unprecedented
terrorism of the last 11 years (since the signing of the Oslo Accord) and
from the Regime-Change and subsequent elections initiated by the US in
Afghanistan and Iraq.
The January 1996 Palestinian
elections were supervised by international and Israeli observers. They were
certified as “free and democratic” by global personalities, such as former
Presidents Clinton and Carter, by then Israeli Prime Minister Peres, by the
UN, by all European leaders, by the NY Times, CNN, the three major US
Networks, etc. They applied much lipstick and make-up, in order to Kosherize
the elections, which upgraded the legitimacy of Arafat, Abu Mazen, Abu Ala`
and other graduates of terrorist camps in Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Libya,
Lebanon and Tunisia. However, when the lipstick and make-up disappeared, it
became obvious that notwithstanding the “free” election, the Palestinian
Authority persisted in hate-education, terrorism, gross violation of human
rights, corruption, systematic and violent violation of commitments made to
Israel and to the US and repression of the Christian minority.
A cardinal prerequisite to
Free Election, to moderate regimes and to durable and peaceful coexistence
is the uprooting of the regime, which has been responsible for the
deterioration of the Palestinian society. Abu Mazen and Abu Ala` have not
been in exile or in the underground during the last eleven years, since the
signing of the Oslo Accord. Sometimes they opposed Arafat’s tactics, but
they always supported Arafat’s strategy. Therefore, they were among Arafat’s
closest confidants and senior deputies since the 1950s, when they were
leaders of the Palestinian cell of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo (which
became the ideological mentor of Hamas terrorists). Along with Dahlan and
Rajoub, they devised a series of understandings with Hamas, starting with
the 1993 edition, which committed the PA and Hamas to a joint strategy
(Israel’s elimination), while assigning different tactical roles to each
organization. Together the four PLO/PA leaders masterminded the system of
hate education in PA-controlled schools, mosques and media. The four have
earned the nickname – coined by fellow Palestinians – “Mr. 20%”, for the
notorious kickbacks extracted from businessmen, who deal with the PA.
The US did not initiate
elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, before the comprehensive dismantling of
the Taliban and the Ba’th regimes. The Allies did not hold elections in
Japan and Germany prior to the tearing down of the Tojo and the Nazi
regimes.
The Palestinian Authority
is not a platform for Free Election. The Palestinian Authority is the key
obstacle for Free Election. Legitimizing the January 2004 election – in
defiance of the clear track record of the PA – has constituted another
victory to wishful thinking over realism. It would, once again, reward
Palestinian terrorism and adrenalize Islamic and international terrorism. It
would cause, therefore, a setback to moderate Palestinian elements and to
the pursuit of peaces.
