By Ryan Jones
Dec 27, 2005
Palestinian Authority ?president? Mahmoud Abbas has called ongoing rocket fire from the Gaza Strip against nearby Jewish communities ?Israel's problem,? and said he has no intention of interfering, according to a report in Ha'aretz.
?Let the Israelis deal with it,? Yasser Arafat's long-time right-hand man was quoted as saying.
However, the PA is quick to cry foul and seek international condemnation of the Jewish state whenever Israel does attempt to deal with it.
At the same time, the PA's failure to meet its own peace obligations in terms of combating terror, and Abbas' repeated acknowledgment that that violation is intentional, is eliciting little more than words from the nations involved in the process to bring ?peace? to the Middle East.
Senior Israeli defense officials have made note of the Abbas regime's apparent inability to implement decisions on the rare occasions when it does try to control the streets and effect security reform.
?Abbas is barely on speaking terms with some security officials, and when he succeeds in issuing an order it is not implemented,? Ha'aretz quoted some officials as saying.
Meanwhile, the general ?Palestinian? public is giving Abbas no incentive to get tougher.
Despite assertions by Europe and the Bush Administration that the average Palestinian Arab simply wants to live in peace with Israel, a new public opinion poll shows that 69 percent of that population views ongoing efforts to mass murder Israeli Jews as completely legitimate.
Half of all ?Palestinians? believe ?suicide? bomb attacks should continue in order to extract more concessions from Israel.
Conducted by the Fafo research foundation in late November and early December, the survey confirmed that most ?Palestinians? feel the current so-called ?calm? with Israel should be maintained for the time being.
However, only 26 percent said the PA should use force to prevent acts of hostility that break the truce, a common occurrence since the terrorists penned the agreement amongst themselves earlier in the year.