Israel Matzav

Abu Mazen explains

Abu Mazen spoke on Sunday night about why the 'Palestinian Authority' decided to defer a vote on the Goldstone Report and then Khaled Meshaal of Hamas spoke on the same issue, as well as Fatah - Hamas reconciliation, in Damascus, Syria.

Abu Mazen demanded that the 'Human Rights Council' hold yet another special session on Goldstone, so that he can 'correct' his 'mistake.'

On Sunday, he told The Jerusalem Post that at Abbas's request, he now plans on Monday to formally submit a request for a special session to the UN in Geneva. He then must submit the signatures of 16 of the council's 47 member-countries.

[PLO ambassador to Geneva Ibrahim] Khraishi said he hoped that the procedures could be quickly concluded and that a special session could be held already this week.

...

[W]ith the Palestinians very likely to muster enough votes to convene a special session, Israel's diplomatic efforts will surely focus on trying to ensure that the resolution passed on the matter is as weak as possible.

For instance, a resolution calling for the Security Council to take up the issue, or for the Human Rights Council to set up a committee to monitor compliance to the report, and for that committee to report back to the Human Rights Council on a periodic basis, could be extremely damaging for Israel.

A resolution saying the monitoring committee took note of the report, or one that generically called on both sides to comply, would be something different altogether.

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, discusses Mahmoud Abbas's explanation on the Palestinian Authority's decision to delay the endorsement of the Goldstone Gaza war report at the UN Human Rights Council.

Let's go to the videotape.



In the weekend JPost, Khaled Abu Toameh says that most 'Palestinians' believe Abu Mazen is finished.

There's a famous saying in Arabic, that "as the camel falls to it knees, more knives are drawn." This is exactly what has happened to Abbas, who is facing an unprecedented wave of condemnation from an increasing number of Palestinians and Arabs.

In the eyes of most Palestinian political analysts, even a miracle would not be able to repair the collateral damage to Abbas's status following his decision last Thursday to withdraw a motion demanding that the UN Human Rights Council endorse the findings of the commission of inquiry headed by Justice Richard Goldstone.

"All the efforts the Americans and Europeans made to bolster President Abbas's standing have gone down the drain," remarked one analyst. "Even many of Abbas's loyalists have turned against him."

As usual, the 'Palestinians' will get another chance. Whether they will give Abu Mazen another chance remains to be seen.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:59 AM