Our Test for Abu Mazen - By Natan Sharansky

[editor]

Our Test for Abu Mazen

Peace is possible only if Palestinians are free.

By Natan Sharansky
The Wall Street Journal
January 11, 2005

Whether the election of Abu Mazen will be a turning point in the search for peace depends critically on whether the Free World, led by the U.S., is prepared to link its policies toward his new government to the degree of freedom the Palestinian Authority affords its own citizens.

Though many of Abu Mazen's recent statements are not encouraging--from pledging to follow in Yasser Arafat's path to ensuring Palestinian terrorists that he will protect them from Israeli reprisals to demanding a so-called right of return to pre-1967 Israel--George W. Bush's understanding that the key to peace lies in building a free society for the Palestinians is a source of optimism. If Mr. Bush makes it clear that the U.S. will support him only if he dedicates himself to expanding freedom within Palestinian society rather than on feeding resentments, then the chances that Abu Mazen will become a genuine partner will improve immeasurably.

For many policy makers, a free society for the Palestinians has little to do with the demands of peace. What is advocated instead is a policy that will strengthen a "moderate" so that he can fight extremists and make a deal with Israel. But merely replacing Arafat with Abu Mazen will not turn a failed Oslo formula into a success.

Read more:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/.....=110006143

What do you think?

[david barrett]

AM is one of the old Arafat school
He is a Holocaust revisionist
He still uses the term Zionist enemy
He is not his own man
To succeed he has to what an Italian politician did and flip 180 degrees and acknowledge his past mistakes
But he is an arab
so he cannot do it!
So we now have to wait to see who is in control
And will we have to accept another lefty apology in Israel?
And at what point does AM become irrelevant?

I suspect that it will not take long before we have a PM[post mortem]