Fatah Party candidate Mahmoud Abbas has won the election for Palestinian president. One hopes that the comfortable victory by this moderate pragmatist will mean a new opportunity for the peace negotiations that have long been stalemated.
The election was very significant in that it was a rare free and fair one for the Middle East. Palestinians voted despite a boycott by armed groups and the Israeli occupation. The made the election a success and showed the world their capacity for democracy. Abbas made quite an impression with his victory, since when Yasir Arafat died last November he enjoyed only single-digit approval, but later succeeded in winning the support from both moderates and hardliners.
It would not be too much to say the success of the peace negotiations depends on how Abbas handles the situation from now on. Most importantly, he needs to secure sound control over security forces and armed groups so that the Palestinian Authority receives substantial support. Only by doing so will he have the strength to negotiate peace with Israel. Also of importance will be reforming the Palestinian Authority, stained as it is with corruption, to make it clean and efficient. It will also be essential that he secures international assistance on a large scale, so as to improve the economy for the general population, as it is currently in dire straits. He is obliged to do make it all happen within the year.
Israel, other Middle Eastern countries, the United States, and the European Union all must give Abbas their active support and get the peace negotiations back on track. One especially hopes that the US and Israel will keep domestic hardline voices in check and take a more balanced attitude. Incoming US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice needs to concentrate on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute with the belief that this will be the final chance.
Middle East peace is not some distant abstraction. Korea’s oil comes almost entirely from the region, and so Korea, too, most spare no economic and diplomatic support for the cause of peace. Palestine under Abbas demands that the world act on behalf of peace.
The Hankyoreh, 11 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Placing Hope in Mahmoud Abbas |
