Peace Partner?

The Palestinian Authority President is on his way to Iran. He is going to attend a conference sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

First he enters into a power sharing agreement with Hamas. Then he refuses to meet Israel’s Prime Minister to negotiate a possible end to the conflict. And now he is off to Tehran.

To add to his reputation as an ineffectual leader his one policy pronouncement in recent months has been to order an investigation into the death of Yasser Arafat. No doubt this biased “investigation” will conclude that Israel assassinated Arafat.

These are all classic moves of a man who wants to deflect attention away from the corruption inside the Palestinian Authority and the lack of interest of ending the conflict with Israel.

Abbas is also under pressure from the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. As the region’s most important country the ascendancy of the Brotherhood has increased the likelihood that the friendly rulers of Jordan will soon fall to the Brotherhood. This will result in a formidable force vying for leadership of the mostly Palestinian population in Jordan which would be a direct challenge to Abbas.