The PLO: A State or an Outdated Organization

By Hassan Al-Haifi


The death of the former brave Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was really a symbolic sign that indeed the Palestine Liberation Organization had breathed its last breath as a purposeful organization with effective realism. It is also apparent that the PLO is finding it difficult to prove that it can actually convincingly claim to be a refection of the feelings and aspirations of the Palestinian people. For sure, the dynamic and sincere character of Yasser Arafat proved to be an awesome unforgettable influence in maintaining the recognition of the PLO as a viable representation of Palestinian political inclinations both locally in the Palestinian arena and internationally.
One obviously feels the charismatic void left by the absence of the boisterous and gutsy voice of the late Yasser Arafat, whose death remains a mystery to this day (http://enduringamerica.com/tag/farouk-al-kaddoumi/), when listening to the current PLO leader of the PLO and the Secretary General of Al-Fath (Al-Fatah), Mahmud Abbas, making the closing statement of the Sixth Conference of Al-Fath, the leading body politic in the now fragile PLO. It is now almost useless to think that Fath can carry on as the leading voice of the Palestinians and the claimant to represent the effective wing of Palestine resistance, not to mention the body politic of the Palestinian people When taking into consideration what Farouk Kaddoumi revealed about a month ago (see previous link), the observer becomes more inclined to think that the current PLO leadership has lost purpose altogether for their existence as a force to be reckoned with in determining the fate of the Palestinian people. Surely, the death of Yasser Arafat should have been a clear symbol of the lack of faith in its own platform, if it worked for the removal of its founder and last holder of the flag of resistance in its nationalistic manifestation.
At the same time, it is clear that the Palestinians have indeed found the alternative to the void left by the passing of Yasser Arafat and the ineffectiveness of the national resistance movement without a dogmatic appeal to fulfill the spiritual vacuum that the PLO is facing. Hamas has proven itself to be a dynamic force in the body politic of the Palestinian people. More importantly, this dynamic political organization has proven to the world that indeed the Palestinians alone are actually able to stand steadfast against the might of the Israeli Offense Forces (the IDF has always been a misnomer for this terror machine, which outranks all terrorist organizations). For the second time in a decade, an Arab force was able to keep the Israeli forces from any effective incursions into Arab territory. Relying on the same perseverance and adherence to faith previously shown by Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas with even less of the wherewithal possessed by the former withstood the Israeli forces for more than three weeks late last year/ earlier this year. To this day, Fatah or the PLO has never shown any strength in holding back Israeli forces, since the brave stance shown by Arafat in his besieged enclave in Ramallah, in which Yasser Arafat bravely withstood every effort by the Israelis to drive him out of the West Bank altogether, let alone out of Ramallah for more than half a decade.

The US Congress and Palestine
One is not sure whether US Congressmen and Congresswomen (in both the House of Representatives and Congress) have caught up with the times, when evaluating the true nature of Israeli intransigence and obstinacy. This is made the more apparent by the inability of US politicians to learn to override the pestering lobby of organizations like the American Israeli Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC). For what reason does the US Congress find itself compelled to determine where the still illegitimate occupier of Jerusalem should have its capital?
For sure, most of the US Congressmen and Congresswomen are still insisting on viewing the Israeli lobby as the foundation stone for American national political prominence, a myth that was proven wrong by the lack of reliance (at least on the surface) of the prominence of Barack Obama in his quick rise to the American national political theater. Surely, the recent decision by the US Congress to tell the world that the Israeli capital should be in Jerusalem, etc does not lend credence to the US national policy of remaining "impartial" in promoting peace in the region, or at least help the US Government in projecting such an image. This only helps to reinforce the general contention amongst the Arab and Moslem populations of the world that the US is not going to succeed in its efforts to bring a "just and lasting peace" in the region. In fact it seems that the US Congress sis more swayed by the Israeli right wing than the desire to fulfill what is more appropriate for the national interests of the United States.

Yemen Times Issue 1284 August 10, 2009