 | In which we note progress of a sort. The Paleo security problems are evaluated without once blaming Israel. |
After weeks of hesitation, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has finally made moves to challenge the powerful militant groups sowing chaos across the West Bank. | See: Whirlwind, reaping the. |
In the end, he was spurred into action by domestic concerns, including an audacious rampage by gunmen through Ramallah and the very real fear of impending electoral defeat, rather than by persistent U.S. and Israeli demands that he crack down on armed groups. "The Palestinian Authority has been crippled and it's become very evident to the people," Palestinian political analyst Hani Masri says. "It reached a point where people were wondering what value is there in having a leader." On Saturday, Abbas forced out West Bank security chief Ismail Jaber — a corruption-tainted patron of some of the militants — and said he would forcibly retire hundreds of senior officers. This was seen as a strong signal that he is serious about security reform and no longer willing to tolerate militants' defiance. Abbas has picked Nablus security commander Maj. Gen. Nadal Asoli as Jaber's replacement, security officials said Sunday on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made. Asoli is the commander of security forces in Nablus. He returned from exile in Tunis with Yasser Arafat in the mid-90s. Unlike Jaber, Asoli's name has not been mentioned in corruption allegations. | "We'll always have Tunis, Yasser!" |
Lacking an independent power base, Abbas had resisted taking on the militants since he was elected in January to head the Palestinian Authority after Arafat's death. He hoped instead to co-opt them into the Palestinian security forces. However, the militants, who have hoarded power during four years of fighting with Israel and have established de facto gang rule in many West Bank towns, resisted and openly challenged Abbas' authority. Last month, militant leader Zakariye Zubeydi brazenly challenged Palestinian security chief Nasser Yousef for entering the West Bank town of Jenin without first getting the secret password his permission. Yousef exploded in anger when Zubeydi fired a rifle outside police headquarters while he held meetings inside. He demanded the militant's arrest, then quickly backed down and let him go. Other militants broke into the main jail in Gaza in February and killed three prisoners there as part of a clan feud. Palestinians are becoming fed up with the lawlessness in their streets, and Abbas has little choice but to tackle the problem quickly if he wants his Fatah Party to have any hope of winning July parliamentary elections. Convinced Fatah is corrupt and ineffective, many Palestinians are turning to the militant Hamas group. | Hamas gunnies or Fatah gunnies, now there's a conundrum for the average Paleo voter... |
To make matters worse for Abbas, many of those running rampant and challenging his power are actually members of Fatah or the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Fatah. Some of the militants also are members of the very security forces expected to stop them. "This chaos is harming the Palestinian Authority and Fatah totally, and if they don't reform now, you can say farewell to Fatah," Masri said. "Hamas is powerful, and Fatah is fighting a battle with itself and is at the same time unable to bring law and order to the streets." | It's a feature, not a bug. |
Nabil Amr, a legislator close to Abbas, said restoring order has become "a national demand." |