I've heard and read many things about the possible visit of Israeli deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz to Ramallah to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas. I must highlight, however, many of those who voiced their opinion are not only doing so to protest the visit, but to use the opportunity to attack President Abbas, with many accusing him of treachery and other foolish and ignorant claims.
One thing that definitely convinced me of this was saying Shaul Mofaz "was one of those who planned for the siege on late president Yasser Arafat." While that is true, I must remind those who forgot that these SAME people threw the SAME accusations at Yasser Arafat before his death and before the siege. Did he not meet the likes of Benjamin Netanyahu, Ariel Sharon, Shaul Mofaz, Ehud Barak, and Shimon Peres before? Is this the first ever meeting between the Palestinian president and Israeli figures? Then why the hypocrisy? Why do some make it seem like they always loved Yasser Arafat? As if they are defending his honor?
Still, we hear more of "these are negotiations", I don't see how this meeting can be considered in any way "negotiations", as President Abbas's position regarding negotiations remain perfectly clear (settlement freeze, recognition of previously agreed-upon declarations), other than the fact that Mofaz has no negotiating authority as deputy prime minister. Meetings and negotiations are two separate things with different purposes.
Have we thought for a moment that maybe the president wanted to prove a point given the world's demand that both sides meet (maybe he knows this meeting will not produce anything and again the ball is in Israel's court to abide by its obligations)? What if we somehow have prisoners released from this meeting, although chances are slim, even if there is a 1% chance, should we turn our backs on our prisoners?
Why do so many of these people pretend like they care? I will give this a week or two and it will be as if it never happened (need I remind you of the Goldstone report, many are probably asking themselves "oh, yes, what ever happened to that??"). Most of the organizers of any protest are sleeping until things like this come up. Since we are speaking about the organizers, it's no secret they belong to opposition groups (not "independents", as they claim) looking for any excuse to resort to slander and defamation (pay close attention to how the opposition is always the first to come out to the media).
I laugh when these people think they're doing a lot when all they do is talk behind a computer screen through Facebook, "like"-ing a page, or sharing an event or article does not mean you are accomplishing extraordinary things. Don't be fooled when you see 1,000+ people "attending" a protest, no more than 100 actually show up.
Looking at the protests in Ramallah, which still took place after the meeting was cancelled, it seemed clear some were there to start clashes instead of actually protesting. What else can the opposition do when they're stuck in the corner? Play the role of the victim. The only videos/photos we see are only in the beginning (how they make it seem it will be non-violent with no bad intentions) and then the videos/photos all of a sudden fast-forward to the end when we see a few injuries, without knowing what happened in the middle. The plan of these people is always to be ready with cameras, provoke a clash with the police, take pictures and distribute them, it's organized crime. Manipulation at its best.
One thing I am aware of, I believe this is applicable anywhere in the world, is an attempt to physically attack the police gives the police the green light to take action. Keep this in mind.
If only protests against Israel were like this. Are there not enough settlements, land confiscations, daily arrests to shift our attention to Israel?
Never have I seen these organizers protest against Hamas for continuously delaying elections (assuming elections are what they are looking for). Never have I seen a sign carried that criticized Hamas even slightly (ever heard of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?), as a matter of fact, they never even mention it! I challenge these "independents", to prove you do not have a hidden agenda, to go out in protest against Hamas's decision to block the Elections Committee from carrying on it's job preparing for elections.
I will consider myself mistaken if people stop this ugly campaign targeting President Abbas personally while directing their attacks on the people who ACTUALLY did the killing! We must learn the difference between criticism and intentional slander, the latter can never be described as "freedom of expression".
Just keep in mind, these voices you hear, are coming from a noisy minority looking for (as the Arabic saying goes) "a wedding to drum and toot in."
To finish off, I want to pay tribute to the 700+ prisoners belonging to the Palestinian security forces in Israeli jails, and hundreds of other security personnel killed by Israel over the past few years, and we should not forget the hundreds of Palestinian police/security service offices and buildings destroyed by Israel as well. Then people say the security forces are here to defend Israel...shame on them.
For those trying to say they're not targeting the president, please don't try too hard, the fangs coming out of your mouths speak for themselves.
"A lie has speed, but truth has endurance."
