Abbas changes his mind

The backlash against Abbas was to be expected and with the flood of criticism, because of his decision to back a postponement of a Human Rights Council vote on the Goldstone investigation into Israel’s assault on Gaza, threatening to drown him, he has now,  according to monday's edition of 'Haaretz', s instructed his envoy to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to resubmit a proposal for a vote on the Goldstone Commission's report on Gaza war crimes".

Nevertheless, the question remains, can you imagine a situation where say, for instance, Austrria is attacked with no declaration of war, thousands of its citizens are killed and the UN orders an inquiry only for the Austrain government to surpress that inquiry? The scenario is, of course, absurd but the analogy is not and although Abbas now appears to have changed his mind the damage has been done to him and his Fatah Party. Indeed, will anyone take Abbas seriously as he now rules out the prospects of peace as long as the Israelis continue their occupation of Jerusalem? This is a man whose latest betrayal of his people just might have been for a license for his son's company.

Of course, the reassessment of his original stance is necessary for Abbas. Indeed, it might even have been a question of his political survival and if Mahmoud were no longer number one in Ramallah then his family business interests would be even more threatened than they are through his latest move. Moreover, there is still a lot of negotiating to be done and the Israelis know that Abbas jr still needs that license and they also know that he is not going to get it for nothng. However, perhaps it is time for Mr Abbas, to take heed of Abe Lincoln's words "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people  some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." Mahmud, your credibility really has gone but then that is something you will share with your "negotiating" partners, Bibi and his "Uncle Tom" sidekick in Washington.