Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rrufff who wrote (8104)	11/23/2004 7:00:45 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Dont know how they got him, although its been a while.

To: rrufff who wrote (8104)	11/24/2004 3:49:22 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 32591

Nov. 24, 2004 9:07 PA platform to remain unchanged By KHALED ABU TOAMEH (Peace with arabs - well dream on) Yasser Arafat's three top successors vowed on Tuesday to follow in his footsteps by refusing to compromise on the right of return for all refugees and insisting on the establishment of a Palestinian state on the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem as its capital. The three – PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and interim Palestinian Authority Chairman Rouhi Fattouh – were speaking at a special session of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah to commemorate Arafat. "We will follow in the path of the late leader Yasser Arafat, and we will work toward fulfilling his dream," Abbas told the council. "We promise you that our hearts will not rest until the right of return for our people is achieved and the tragedy of the refugees is ended." Fattouh pledged to work towards putting an end to the state of anarchy and lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and to pursue the struggle until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Addressing the session, Qurei said the Palestinians will follow in Arafat's footsteps by remaining committed to the right of return and the establishment of a Palestinian state. "Our people, under the PLO and the eternal leader Yasser Arafat, have scored many achievements through huge sacrifices and the blood of the martyrs," he said. "This process, led by Yasser Arafat, has still not achieved all its goals. There is still a lot to be done to achieve our national goals." Abbas's speech follows his election on Monday night by the Fatah Central Council as its candidate for the January 9 elections for PA chairman – a move that has been openly challenged by representatives of the young guard in Fatah. The council is dominated by veteran operatives representing the old guard in the ruling Fatah faction. The council has 21 members, but six of them, including Arafat, have died over the past decade. Another five live in different Arab countries and are strongly opposed to the Oslo Accords. The higher committee of Fatah, a group consisting of young Fatah leaders who have been pressing for internal elections, held an emergency meeting in Bethlehem to discuss the repercussions of Abbas's nomination. "The decision to nominate Abbas as Fatah's candidate is undemocratic and illegal," said a Fatah official from Ramallah. "The Fatah central council does not represent the majority of the Fatah cadres, especially the young generation." Hatem Abdel Kader, member of the higher committee of Fatah who participated in the Bethlehem meeting, told The Jerusalem Post that the central council made a mistake by rushing to elect Abbas. "The council should have held in-depth consultations with all Fatah cadres to ask about their opinion before choosing a candidate," he said. Some of the members of the young guard are pushing for jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti as their candidate, arguing that he has a better chance of winning. Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, said her husband would decide next week whether to run as an independent. "The new era is difficult," said Ahmed Ghnaim, member of the Fatah revolutionary council, another significant decision-making body that is expected to endorse Abbas later this week. "We're not used to life without Arafat. There's an internal discussion in Fatah and we hope to pass this phase safely." Bassam al-Sayeh, a prominent Fatah activist from Jerusalem, said the young Fatah leaders want to inject fresh blood into the Palestinian leadership. "They want to see new faces replace the old guard," he told the Post. However, Sayeh voiced opposition to the idea of nominating Barghouti. "I don't think he would be able to run the affairs of the Palestinians from behind bars," he said. Sayeh also ruled out the possibility that the armed wing of Fatah, Aksa Martyrs Brigades, would revolt against Abbas. "They need money, and they know that they can't rely on Hizbullah to continue financing them," he said." PA Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath urged Barghouti not to run. "I think Marwan Barghouti is a disciplined man," he said. "He is committed to the decisions of Fatah. He will have an important role in the future." In Beirut on Tuesday, Farouk Kaddoumi, a senior hard-liner who co-founded Fatah with Arafat in 1959 and has replaced him as its secretary-general, said Palestinians will not realize their aspirations unless they kept fighting Israel. "We cannot achieve goals except through continued resistance by all methods and means," Kaddoumi said at a memorial ceremony for Arafat. Hamas boycotted the event after its representatives were told that they would not be allowed to deliver speeches.