The
Gatestone Institute has published an essay worth your time.
The essay contains
a letter written by a ‘Palestinian’. It
reveals a Mahmoud Abbas that Jews in Diaspora generally don’t see. I have carved
out the letter from the essay:
“Open Letter
to the French President”
By: A Palestinian Journalist in Ramallah
Dated: January 14, 2015
His
Excellency, François Hollande
Dear Mr.
President,
First, I
wish to express my deep condolences over the killing of innocent citizens in
the recent terror attacks in Paris.
Second, I
want to apologize to Your Excellency for not revealing my true identity. After
you read my letter, you will realize why people like me are afraid to reveal
their real identity.
I decided to
write to you this letter after hearing my president, Mahmoud Abbas, declare
that you had invited him to attend the anti-terror rally in Paris earlier this
week.
Like many
Palestinians, I see President Abbas's participation in a rally against
terrorism and assaults on freedom of speech as an act of hypocrisy -- a
condition that is not alien to Palestinian Authority leaders.
In fact,
many Palestinians nearly fell off their chairs upon seeing their president
march in the front row of a rally in your capital, in protest against terrorism
and assaults on freedom of the media.
President
Abbas's participation in the rally is an insult to the victims of the terror
attacks. It is also an insult to Western values, including freedom of
expression and democracy.
Your
Excellency, myself and other journalists living under the rule of the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank were the first to be offended by the invitation you
extended to President Abbas to attend the anti-terror rally.
Undoubtedly,
you are unaware of the fact that Abbas is personally responsible for punishing
Palestinian journalists who dare to criticize him or express their views in
public. Of course, Your Excellency, we cannot blame you for being unaware of
this assault on public freedoms because the mainstream media, including French
newspapers and magazines, deliberately turn a blind eye to these practices.
Every day we see that the Western media does not care about such violations
unless they are committed by Israel.
That is why,
Your Excellency, you are probably unaware of the cases of several Palestinian
journalists who have been arrested and intimidated by President Abbas's
security forces over the past few years. Yes, this is the same Abbas who came
to Paris to express his condolences over the brutal killing of the Charlie
Hebdo journalists.
The most
recent example of Abbas's crackdown on Palestinian journalists occurred shortly
before Your Excellency phoned President Abbas to invite him to Paris. The case
involves my female colleague, Majdolin Hassouneh, who was detained for
"extending her tongue," or insulting, President Abbas.
Your
Excellency, please allow me to tell you that you are completely mistaken if you
ever thought that President Abbas and his Palestinian Authority are tolerant
toward satire or any form of criticism. And of course, you haven't heard of the
Palestinian Authority's decision to cancel the only popular satirical show on
Palestine TV, Watan ala Watar (Country on a String).
The show was
forced off the air in 2011 because President Abbas believed it had
"crossed a line" by mocking his top officials in Ramallah. This is
the same Abbas who came to Paris to protest the massacre at the satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo.
And, Your
Excellency, if you want further evidence of President Abbas's clampdown on
political satire, you can ask Palestinian comedians Abdel Rahman Daher and
Mahmoud Rizek. The two men are currently in Jordan because they are afraid to
return to the West Bank. No, Your Excellency, they are not afraid to return
home because of Israel. They are afraid of being arrested by President Abbas's security
forces, which accuse the two men of insulting their leader.
President
Abbas, Your Excellency, should be the last person to walk in a march honoring
journalists who were massacred because of their satirical work. His
participation in the Paris rally is not only in an insult to the memory of the
slain journalists, but to all those who believe in freedom of expression and
media.
I also want
to bring to the attention of Your Excellency that while President Mahmoud Abbas
was attending the rally in Paris, a human rights group published a report
accusing the Palestinian Authority of "waging war" against university
students in the West Bank. According to the report, 24 students have been
arrested in recent weeks by Abbas's security forces for "political reasons."
Again, I'm
sure Your Excellency did not hear about the crackdown on university campuses
because Western media outlets and foreign journalists based here do not report
about such stories. You read and hear about such incidents only when the
Israeli army or police are involved.
I do not
want to take much of your time, Your Excellency, by telling you about President
Abbas's double standards and hypocrisy on the subject of terrorism. You can
learn a lot about this by going on the Internet and seeing, with your own eyes,
how our president often condones and glorifies terrorism and terrorists.
You will
even discover that our president, who will soon celebrate his 80th birthday, is
prepared to stay awake all night to welcome Palestinians released from Israeli prison
for murdering Jews and committing terror attacks no less serious than the ones
your country experienced last week.
You will
also discover, Your Excellency, that our president also rewards terrorists by
granting them monthly salaries and other privileges.
What would
be your reaction, Your Excellency, if someone decided to reward financially the
families of the terrorists who massacred the innocent civilians in Paris?
Your
Excellency, perhaps it is now too late to talk about the decision to invite President
Abbas to the anti-terror rally. The damage has already been done, as far as I
and many Palestinians are concerned. The way we see it is as follows: President
Abbas has once again managed to deceive you and the rest of the international
community by placing himself on the side of the good guys in their fight
against terrorism and extremism. Even worse, President Abbas has managed to
create the false impression that he cares about freedom of speech and
independent journalism.
Undoubtedly,
now Palestinians like me will now pay a heavier price because President Abbas
has been emboldened by his participation in the Paris rally. President Abbas
will now step up his assaults on public freedoms because he knows that the
international community will only see photos of him marching together with Your
Excellency and other world leaders in defense of freedom of expression.
By extending
the invitation to President Abbas, you have caused damage to Palestinians like
me who have been hoping that someone -- maybe even a leader like you -- would
finally expose the dictatorship of the Palestinian Authority for what it is.
President Abbas's participation in the Paris rally is a severe blow to people
like me who are genuinely opposed to terrorism and suppression of free speech.
Your
Excellency, now that the damage has already been done, all that is left for
people like me is to beg you to take all what I have said into account in your
future dealings with President Abbas. Please do not hesitate to raise these
issues with President Abbas the next time he requests your support for the
creation of an independent Palestinian state. Otherwise, France will be helping
to establish another corrupt and repressive Arab dictatorship -- one that
glorifies and rewards terrorists no different from those who carried out the
Paris attacks.
Finally,
Your Excellency, I hope that by now you understand the reason why I am too
scared to reveal my identity.
Sincerely,
A
Palestinian Journalist with No Name or Voice
No comments:
Post a Comment