"Politics of fear"
Osamah Khalil
The Electronic Intifada, Oct 8, 2007

The Palestinians are some of the most talented, best educated, and hardest working people in the Middle East. - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Keynote Speech at The American Task Force on Palestine’s Inaugural Gala, 11 October 2006. [1]

The Palestinians, frankly, are a ragtag people, many who barely speak English. And whatever they say is often offensive and then used against them. - Dr. Ziad Asali, President and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine, 1 August 2007. [2]

During the Cold War, the conservative Arab governments used the threat of "international communism" to squelch internal dissent and secure their unpopular regimes while cultivating closer ties to Washington. In the "post-9/11" era, "communism" has been replaced by the specter of "terrorism." Deeply unpopular at home and unable to rely on any notion of nationalism or Pan-Arab unity, Arab leaders have instead resorted to the politics of fear to bolster their rule by appealing to the basest elements of sectarian and ethnic bigotry: fear of a Shiite revival, or of Persian hegemony, or the chaos in Iraq. These tactics have emerged in Palestine since Hamas’ election victory, and have become more pronounced since the organization took over Gaza in June. Attempting to generate support for his attenuating rule, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has sought to paint criticism of him, the PA and Fatah, as emanating not only from Hamas’ supporters but directly from Tehran. Borrowing from George W. Bush’s Manichean philosophy, Abbas and his lackeys are offering Palestinians a simple and false choice: either you are with "us" (i.e., the PA and Fatah) or you are with the "terrorists" (i.e., Hamas and Iran). In the United States, Abbas has been aided in this effort by the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), a fledgling organization that professes to represent Palestinian-American interests. The implications of these tactics on Palestinian advocacy and aspirations in the existing political climate bear merit further scrutiny, as do the organizations and individuals which employ them.

Read the rest. -f