Laatste wapenfeiten

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Brief Abbas aan Bush

The right honorable George Bush

President of the United States

The White House

(diplomatic pouch)

Gaza, 7 September 2003

Dear George,

You will remember, when we met June 4, 2003 at Sharm el Sheikh, we, the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and I, as prime minister of the Palestinian authority, spent 90 minutes with you alone. We pledged to you unanimously, that we would actively counter the culture of extremism and violence. Also Mr. Ariel Sharon stressed in your presence that day, that he was a man of peace.

Hardly had we left Aqaba, as you will remember, or on June 8 Israel carried out another helicopter attack with missiles, this time on the number 2 of Hamas, Abdel Aziz Rantisi. He was only wounded, but three Palestinians got killed. This was an open and blatant attack on your assurances to us that Israel, too, would abide by the road map.

When on June 10, you took Ariel Sharon to task for endangering the peace process, we were indebted and grateful to you for keeping your word to us, that Israel would not be allowed to derail the road map by continuing to execute our resistance leaders. With the help of our Egyptian friends we eventually managed a tour de force to halt from our side the cycle of bloodshed for seven long weeks. Then Israel attacked us again and executed by helicopter with us missiles our comrade Abu Shanab. This was a deliberate Israeli act to derail the peace process once more. Imam Misk retaliated immediately and blew up 20 Israelis on behalf of our resistance fighters.

Sharon knew, that if Israel resumed executions of our freedom fighters, we are unable to restrain our resistance movement, because they are sworn to revenge the murders of their blood

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brothers, the more so since our forces are not supplied, in the way Israel is, with billions of us dollars and the latest us military equipment or electronic devices to be able to carry out this latest 21st century us invention: executions from the skies.

When Shanab was executed you kept silent. Why? Were you playing golf that day with your father at his vacation home in Maine? You did not condemn Sharon a second time for the same offense. Of course, Israel considered this as a silent nod from the White House to continue this unique method to eliminate freedom warriors seen by you as terrorists. You should have known, that if you broke your solemn promise to us in Sharm el Sheikh, I would lose control over our resistance movement. I was left with no other choice than to render my resignation. This has nothing to do with a power struggle between president Yasser Arafat and me, as western media try to misrepresent our dilemma. This rather is connected with the naked fact - as Nelson Mandela already flatly pointed out to the world - that there is something wrong with your brain. As Mandela said it: ‘Bush cannot think.’

If you do not get hold of yourself and bring a cognitive consistency and balance into your perception and understanding of why Palestinians and Jews are locked into bloodletting for 55 years, the Middle East turmoil will continue to spread. The Muslim Jihad against Israel will turn into a worldwide guerrilla war against America and its allies. It is already operating like that in Iraq, Afghanistan and Indonesia. You cannot continue a double faced policy of waging war against Baghdad because Saddam ignored for 12 years un resolutions and allow Israel to flout un resolutions since 1967. Actually, you award Jews for their violation of their obligations to the Charter of the United Nations and their violation of some sixty Security Council resolutions, while you bombed Iraq since 1991 for the possession of weapons of mass destruction, you told the world they had and that proved to be not there. You can fool the world for some time, but not for ever.

You cannot get away for paying lip service to Sharon about the so-called ‘unwise provocation’ to construct a crazy Berlin wall

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straight through our Palestinian land, knowing full well that without us dollars, Israel would not be able to erect this monstrosity which is an open insult to anyone's intelligence. If you blockade other member states of the un unilaterally (Cuba, Libya, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and many others) why not Israel? Are you fearing the Jewish vote in the next election and therefore behaving like a gangster in world affairs?

My resignation is as yet not final. There still is time. I know, President Arafat and my government are ready to continue to cooperate with you, and Secretary Powell, to achieve a peaceful solution to the present crisis. But it takes two to tango. Please keep your promise of Sharm el Sheikh of June 4, 2003 and together we will achieve the noble goals of the us road map.

Mahmoud Abbas

Het aftreden van Abbas was toch definitief. In 2005 zou hij verkozen worden tot president van de Palestijnse Autoriteit.