Abu Ala: I Accomplished Something in Negotiations

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

I cannot help but offer my warmest congratulations to the Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Qurei (Abu Ala) on the progress he has achieved in his negotiations with the Zionist entity — namely, obtaining an Israeli identity card for his daughter. We were able to confirm this great achievement through Israel’s Channel Ten, which broadcast it, documented and with photographs.

These Zionists cannot keep a secret. They render services to certain people, and then publicize what they have provided in the media, belittling and holding Palestinians in contempt. We understood the message of Channel Ten and the Israeli newspapers: that Palestine’s negotiating leaders do not care about Palestine or about the interests of their own people, but only about their own personal interests; and we understood it to be telling us, in effect, that this is the true measure of your cause.

I am not in favor of negotiating with Israel, but I have every right to ask you about your role: are you negotiating to achieve Palestinian goals, or are you preoccupied with the matter of your daughter’s identity card? You are neither the first nor the last to use negotiations to achieve personal ends, and we hear many strange and astonishing tales about the conduct of numerous Palestinian negotiators.

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Have you ever asked yourself how the Israeli sitting across from you at the negotiating table views you, holding in his hand a request from you meant to serve your own personal interests? And have you ever asked yourself how he must assess the Palestinian people, if the very man negotiating in their name allows himself to exploit the negotiating table to push through personal requests? I am at a loss as to what you told yourself when Israel’s media broadcast this matter publicly, and how you managed to face it without simply vanishing from sight.

In any case, you do not bear the burden alone; rather, it is we, the Palestinian people, who still hear news of you, and remain silent about futile negotiations that drain us morally, nationally, and spiritually. We, as a Palestinian people, are falling short in our duty toward ourselves, and were it not for that, neither you nor any other negotiator would ever be standing there speaking of the Palestinian interest or of fixed national rights.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “أبو علاء: أنجزت تفاوضيا” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.