A Monopoly of Incompetence, Corruption, Failure and Thuggery.

Years of silence by Palestinian” Sheiks” and intellectuals led us to where we are now. Arafat ruled the PLO and Fatah with iron fist, using bribery, intimidation even physical liquidation to silence every one. There was never a call for accountability of decisions, failures even financial corruptions. Time for a national salvation front to save the Palestinians from themselves and from the Israeli. It is now or never.

If we are to be fair to Palestine and its people, we must first put aside all of the wishful thinking, all of the make believes and all of the lies we have been sold, told and lived through the last 100 years. We must as a start admit that the PLO was, is and will remain a failed organization and that Fatah as an organization, notwithstanding the thousands of martyrs who gave their lives for the cause of Palestine, is nothing more than a failed racketeering organization, that held a monopoly on incompetence, ineptness, failures, ruthlessness and absolute corruption. Let us not fool ourselves with all of the lies we have been fed by professional functionaries who made the cause of Palestine, a business, a big business for themselves and for the organization.

Let us not get carried away with false and fraudulent heroes the likes of Yaser Arafat and for once see the truth, the tragic truth as it is. No need to live a false dream and not recognize the honest truth. The Palestinian revolution of the PLO, Fatah and Arafat is a failed revolution. It is a fraudulent revolution and is the core cause of all of the ills the Palestinians suffer under Occupation and in the Diaspora for the last 45 years.

Hamas and since coming to power proved it is no less ruthless and incompetent than Fatah, and no less than Fatah is putting the cause and interests of the organization and its professional functionaries ahead of the nation and people. Organizations, leadership and cadres are unfit to lead to liberation ad should be put out of business by the people.

The Lebanese journalist Samir Atallah writing in today’s (09/08/08) Asharq Alawsat asks where are the “Sheiks” of the Palestinians to step forward to salvage the nation, people and cause. Mr. Atallah asks where are the likes of Abdul-Muhsin Qattan, Munib Al-Masri, Saeed Khouri and Shafiq Al-Hout? And yes, Mr. Atallah and all Palestinians have every right to ask where are the “Sheiks” of the Palestinian people to step forward and save the people and the nation? The answer is simple. With few exceptions, most if not all Palestinian “Sheiks” gave that role long time ago, when they decided to remain silent and never challenge the corrupt, incompetent and fraudulent Arafat as he took the cause and people from one failure to another. Now we are seeing the result of such silence.

These Palestinians “Sheiks” gave that role long time ago, when they decided to become the beneficiary of the corruption and racketeering business of the PLO and what later became known as the Palestinian Authority, the official administrator of the Israeli Military and Civil Administration of the Occupied Territories.

One has to recognize and appreciate the philanthropic contributions of the likes of Abdul-Muhsin Qattan, Saeed Khouri, and Munib Al-Masri and many others to the Palestinian cause and the people. Some more than other chose to be silent as the Palestinian Trio of Yasser Arafat and later Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qurai proved inept, incompetent corrupt and ruthless to lead the people to independence and liberation. There was for the most part too many intertwining business and professional interests with the PLO and the Palestinians Trio to allow these would be “Sheiks” to have that independence to speak out and take the courageous step to take charge and save the Palestinians from the two evils that are Hamas and Fatah. Too bad business interests proved more powerful than national interests. Too bad for the people, nation and cause that such “Sheiks”, perhaps out of personal fear and safety for their families and business chose to remain silent rather than risk the rather the retaliation of the thugs and armed thugs of both Hamas and Fatah. They were insider who should have known better than remain silent.

I am sure that such committed nationalists like Abdul-Muhsin Qattan, Saeed Kkouri and Munib Al-Masri do see the Palestinian Authority as a security contractor for the Israeli Occupation and do see that salvation requires the gathering of not only three but of thousands of the likes of Qattan, Khouri and Al-Masri to form a national salvation front, calls for the disbanding of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization, Fatah, Hamas and call for international administration of the Occupied Territories as first step toward ending the Israeli military and settlers occupation thus allowing the Palestinians the opportunity to have an alternative leadership other than that of PLO, Fatah and Hamas.

I do hope that the likes of Abdul-Muhsin Qattan, Saeed Khouri, Munib Al-Masri and Gaith Soukhtian among others take the lead and form this national salvation front that can make a difference. It is never too late to put the thugs in Ramallah and Gaza out of business.