Abbas Orders Forces to Prevent Attacks on Israel
By Wafa Amr, Ramallah, West Bank (Reuters)
In order to move the Middle East peace process forward, Abbas has taken a bold step up to the plate and ordered security forces Monday to prevent attacks on Israel by militants.
"Abu Mazen (Abbas) and the cabinet gave clear instructions to the security chiefs to prevent all kinds of violence, including attacks against Israel," cabinet minister Qadoura Fares told Reuters.
Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said anyone who violates Abbas's orders "will be punished."
In a departure from his pre-election stance, calling Palestinian terrorists "freedom fighters", Abbas may have experienced a change of heart after Israel cut off all diplomatic contact after the latest assaults by seven terror groups.
Speaking to reporters, Abbas said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to cut off contacts with the new Palestinian leadership was "hasty and wrong."
"Problems are not solved by severing contacts but through contacts," Abbas said.
To the contrary, at least one problem may be on the way to being solved by Sharon's refusal to deal with a leader who took the hands off approach to internal, anti-Semitic terrorists. The terrorists' bold defiance of Abbas's call for calm in the first days following his election have evidently shaken the leader into action with words. All that remains is to see if words lead to deeds.
Israel acknowledges the effort with caution, calling it a "small step" forward. Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Sharon, is calling for troop deployment to thwart the rocket fire from Gaza. Sharon gave Israeli forces full rein to stop the attacks in Gaza on Sunday, but issued a delay of two to three weeks in any major operations in order to give Abbas a chance to back up his words.
On the flip side, Abbas' terrorists are none too happy.
Militants, some warning there could be clashes with Palestinian forces, ruled out any halt to attacks before an end to "Israeli aggression" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Could it be that the internal battle for a Palestinian state that lives with peace will begin? All I can say is, if they dedicate themselves to fighting their own terrorists, I think the US, Israel and the free world should do all possible to help in the quest.
1 comment:
Hey Mata and Alia,..you think Abbas reads our blogs? Looks like my dare is being answered!
Post a Comment