Arafat Deputy: Stupidfada Was a Mistake

Wed, Nov 27, 2002 at 2:50:20 pm PST

In a meeting with Fatah terrorists, Arafat deputy Mahmoud Abbas apparently said the intifada was a big mistake. I got almost a dozen emails about this; I guess I’m supposed to see it as a positive sign.

"What happened in these two years, as we see it now, is a complete destruction of everything we built," Abbas was quoted as saying. "The reason for this is that many people diverted the uprising from its natural path and embarked on a path we can't handle, with the use of weapons ... such as mortars, grenades and shooting from houses and populated areas."

Abbas said shooting from populated areas endangered Palestinian lives and property, because it invited Israeli retaliation. "We have to control the situation, and I don't think there is anything that keeps us from succeeding," he said. "What is needed now is to say, clearly and firmly — until here and enough."

Well ... please excuse my realism, but this is the same good terrorist/bad terrorist routine the Palestinian leadership always runs after a particularly horrific atrocity, and if Abbas really did make this statement I anticipate it will have as little effect on their true agenda as a butterfly fart in a windstorm.