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Abu Mazen, new president
of the Palestinian National Authority
AFTER years of commitment to the liberation cause of
his nation, Mahmud Abbas - commonly known as Abu
Mazen - the new president of the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO), has just been elected
as the new president of the Palestinian National
Authority (PNA) with more than 62% of the votes.
Also
a member of Al Fatah, in his first public statement
he dedicated his victory to “Arafat’s soul and to
Palestinian prisoners.” The historic leader died
recently leaving his people in profound grief and
the latter were denied the right to vote by Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
With
respect to the elections (on January 8), Imad Jadaa,
the Palestinian ambassador in Havana, offered
Juventud Rebelde some of his reflections on the
adverse situation faced by the men and women of
Palestine, both in terms of the repression and
brutality of Sharon’s government and uncertainty
over the issue of peace achieved through compromise
at an international level.
According to the diplomat, there has been a lot of
slander surrounding the figure of Mazen (the
so-called mainstream press have labeled him a
“moderate”). However, he describes him as a
“strategic leader who cannot change the Palestinian
line” as in his opinion “neither Abu Mazen or any
other person can relinquish our rights that are
recognized by international law.”
In
this context, he emphasized the call made by the
current ANP president in favor of a negotiable
solution that carefully considers the military
supremacy of Israel (a country that receives
substantial sums of money from the United States to
support its buildup of arms, including nuclear
weapons).
However, Jadaa holds the belief that “the problem
(surrounding a peaceful solution) did not lie with
Arafat. Nor will it lie with Abu Mazen. The problem,
he believes, is Israel’s lack of will and the lack
of seriousness on the part of the United States to
find a peaceful solution.”
“We
know what we want, the Palestinian leadership is
very clear in its objectives: To create a state with
the 1967 borders…But much more than the Palestinian
people, it is Israel, the United States, the UN and
the whole international community that are facing a
test: asking themselves what they are going to do
facing such a disciplined people, to protect
international law and respect for the United
Nations.”
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