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| Middle East |
| Palestinian challenges Arafat in elections |
| 2002-05-18 |
| A Palestinian political scientist who was once jailed for criticizing Yasser Arafat's leadership said Friday he will run against the Palestinian leader in upcoming elections. With news of possible elections only hours old, Abdel Sattar Qassem, 53, was the first to announce plans to run. "Yeah! Lemme at him! Lemme at him!" While Qassem's candidacy might rally some of the growing discontent with Arafat, his chances of winning appeared slim. Arafat remains the symbol of the Palestinian people, and Qassem, a Western-educated sympathizer with Islamic militants, has no political power base. And if he starts getting one, his car will blow up... Arafat's aides said Friday they were preparing for presidential and parliamentary elections within six months - a first in six years. In 1996, Arafat won 87 percent of the vote in a race against a 73-year-old social activist, Samiha Khalil, who was not considered a serious challenger. That's because those car insurance rates were already out of sight... Qassem endorses bombing and shooting attacks by Islamic militant groups on Israel civilians. "As long as the Palestinian civilians are suffering as refugees in the camps for 54 years the Israeli civilians should suffer as well," he said. Well, yeah, of course. Revenge is very important, y'know... "The president is so weak and has lost his popularity because of the worsening situation the people are living under," he said. "My main mission in the future will be serious work to rebuild this society." By having lots of people blow up. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 "Hi. I'm Abdel Sattar Qassem. I'm running for dictator. Can I count on your vote?" |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-05-18 14:26:08 |