Mohammed Awni Abu Oun

October 14, 2021

The visit of the Meretz party, led by Nitzan Horowitz and other leaders, to Ramallah, received great media attention as the views were divided in the Palestinian street into two sides. Some said that the visit broke the impasse in the negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli occupation, and others considered it a failed attempt by Abbas to restore his lost sparkle as he tries to re-prove himself to the Palestinians.

Abbas seemed passionate about the visit and ready to bring all vital documents and national issues to the negotiation table to earn the Israeli occupation's trust and convince it that he is a good partner. He also showed readiness to negotiate about the critical issues, mainly the prisoners' salaries, the martyrs' families' salaries, and the media letters that do not fit the Israeli perspectives.

Regarding Abbas' calls to achieve the Palestinian dream of ending the Israeli occupation, reaching a just peace; which depends on international decisions, and stopping the colonial settlement and the policy of house demolition, he knows that he deceives himself and the Palestinian grass-roots. The Jewish society is tending to extremism, and racism is dominating the military, security, and political work in the Israeli occupation's entity in a way that does not recognize the Palestinian Authority as a partner to peace and negotiations. 

Ayelet Shaked gave Abbas a strong slap by refusing his call to meet together. She accused him of supporting terrorism and inciting against the Israeli occupation. Abbas is not a warrior against its army, he just requires the minimum to save his face in front of his people and the international society. Nonetheless, the Israeli extremist right party, represented by Shaked, does not accept Abbas or his successors to be more than agents for the Israeli occupation that have the Israeli and American satisfaction.

Furthermore, he realizes that the reluctant voices that support his visit do not make a notable difference in the Israeli society nor do they affect the current community's awareness. Thus, the leftist peace advocates, who are centered in the square of the Labor Party and Meretz Party, are no more than 8% of the Israeli society.

Abbas continues to fall over and over again in the illusion of peace and reconciliation with the Israeli occupation. He continues to bring all papers to the negotiation table with the occupation, believing that being in power in Ramallah is connected to Israel's satisfaction and approval, and to the gains he can achieve to its existence.

The tragic irony about Abbas is that he knows so well that he is not welcome to be in the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, he knows that the Israeli occupation and the United States are searching for alternatives and waiting for the moment they remove Abbas from office. Nevertheless, it is the worst when the Palestinian issue and the path to liberation stay connected to this Israeli mindless strategy, which has caused a lot of mess recently. 

The world's manipulation of the Palestinian issue has to end. Also, the Palestinian Authority and Fateh leadership must realize that their attitudes will not be forgotten and the history will not have mercy on them as the bet on the Israeli occupation will absolutely lose.