The Lofty Morals of the Palestinian Authority

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Many have directed sharp criticism at the Palestinian Authority for agreeing to, or requesting, the postponement of the vote on the Goldstone Report concerning the massacres the Zionist army committed in Gaza during the Cast Lead war, and many human rights associations and human rights defenders have been in an uproar, especially since their exhausting efforts to gather information in order to condemn Israel and hold it accountable for its crimes against humanity have now become threatened by Palestinians themselves.

What do you think of a party that incites another party to wage a war, and then, after the fact, washes its hands and abandons the very party it incited to wage that war? Israel has an interest in waging war on Gaza, and always sees continuing its assault and aggression against the people of Palestine and the Arab peoples as being in its own interest, but in the Cast Lead war, as in the July 2006 war, it found many states and parties inciting and encouraging it to eliminate the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and in Lebanon. There were Arab states that encouraged Israel’s aggression in July, and demanded it continue the aggression in order to eliminate Hezbollah, regardless of the losses the Lebanese people would suffer — the very same Arab states that incited against Gaza, demanding Israel eliminate the Palestinian resistance, whether Hamas-affiliated or not. There were Western states, the United States foremost among them, that pushed Israel toward the aggression, encouraging and supporting it. And on the Palestinian level, there were those who supported the aggression, and there were those in Ramallah who packed their bags on the second day of the war, intending to head to Gaza once it had been “liberated” by the Israeli army. Israeli leaders have stated that the Palestinian Authority asked Israel to continue the war on Gaza until the existing political situation changed.

Israel waged the war on behalf of Palestinian, Arab, and Western parties, and it is not to be expected that these parties would stand with the Goldstone Report and demand the necessary legal proceedings continue. This is why Arab and Islamic governments rushed to meet the Israeli and American demand for the necessity of postponing a decision on the report, with the aim of killing it altogether. This is a logical act, because whoever incites and encourages Israel does not stand against it when it finds itself in a predicament. This demonstrates the lofty moral level Arab and Islamic regimes, and Palestinians, have reached. They do not betray their friends and allies, and are not prepared to disown Israel and let it down at a time when it needs support.

Moreover, it is only proper manners not to spit in the dish one eats from. The donor states provide a great deal of money to the Palestinian Authority to spend according to American and Israeli standards, and the Authority obtains many modern cars and pleasant trips — so should we demand it leap over all these blessings and ignore them? A person is enslaved to whoever provides him his daily bread, or at least does not rebel against him. Accordingly, asking the Authority to stand with the Palestinian people would amount to encouraging it toward ingratitude, disowning everything the Western states have generously provided, such as salaries and the development of the security apparatuses.

I have no doubt America ordered the Palestinian Authority to withdraw its request for a vote on the Goldstone Report, and it likely threatened to cut off funds and strip many leaders of their positions of leadership. Nor do I doubt that Israel threatened to release recordings available regarding Palestinians’ cooperation with it in launching and continuing the aggression on Gaza.

As for the attempt by America and the Palestinian Authority to offer justifications for the postponement — including concern for the so-called “peace process” — this is expected decoration, and we have grown accustomed to the policy of dressing up every shameful act.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “الأخلاق الرفيعة للسلطة الفلسطينية” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.