Israel Matzav

Surprise: PLO walks back support of Tunisian revolution

In an earlier post, I noted the lukewarm support for the Tunisian revolution from the 'Palestine Liberation Organization,' while the 'Palestinian Authority' did not take a stance. Now, the PLO has walked back its support for the revolution as well.

The Palestinian president's advisor to the PLO said Saturday that the body's leadership had not taken an official stance on the situation in Tunisia, contradicting a prior statement expressing solidarity.

PLO advisor Ahmed Abdel Rahman said the Executive Committee had not met and therefore had not issued an official statement. Still, he extended condolences to the families of Tunisian victims, the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA reported.

Rahman's remarks came hours after an Executive Committee statement praised the "unprecedented courage of the Tunisian people and their heroic sacrifices for their just rights."

The statement also called the spontaneous uprising across Tunisia one "against corruption and oppression," and reaffirmed that the Tunisian people possessed creative power in exercising self-determination, democracy and development.

I guess somewhere along the line someone realized that the analog to the Tunisian government under Ben Ali is not the 'Israeli occupation,' but Abu Bluff's illegitimate government that is still in power two years after its term expired.

Heh.

Labels: Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian elections, PLO, Tunisia

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:42 PM