Mahmoud Abbas

It is time for the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships and people to open a process of imagining peace. This is not to be confused with designing the "New Middle East" fantasy world, but rather beginning to paint realistic pictures of scenarios of how each side envisions Israeli-Palestinian peace.

by Gershon Baskin

Mahmoud Abbas has taken many bold steps to improve Palestinian security. But has it been enough? And can long term security solution really be found when, to many Palestinians, a just solution to the conflict seems like a distant dream?

by Rafat Dajani

by James J. Zogby

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is liked, but is not known, here in the US. This situation poses some challenges and presents some opportunities which the Palestinian leader ought to address as he prepares for his upcoming American visit.

Polling shows that Abbas is rated about the same as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with regard to his commitment to peace, his trustworthiness and his favourability. While this may not seem impressive to Arab readers, it is important to recall that this near parity must be understood in the context of a multimillion dollar Israeli public relations campaign that has, for five years, worked to rehabilitate Sharon's image while demonising that of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and presenting the Palestinian people, in general, in an extremely negative light.

Abbas' initial favourable ratings are due to two factors. He is not Arafat, and he has been embraced by President George Bush as a "partner". With this has come the respect of many in the US foreign policy establishment.

by Ziad Asali

Washington DC - President Bush has made it clear that the future of humanity lies with freedom and democracy. By their free and clean election in January, the Palestinian people have created their democracy. Now they must have their freedom.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas courageously has staked his political future on achieving freedom and statehood for his people through peaceful negotiations. To succeed, he needs the support of all responsible parties. He has taken many bold and decisive steps to restructure the Palestinian Authority and rebuild a disciplined and accountable security system. Without security and the rule of law, there is no hope for peace.

by Daoud Kuttab
April 8th 2005

The setting would have been the stuff of novels. Windy roads in an ancient Middle Eastern city. A Hollywood celebrity. A businessman, journalists, artists, filmmakers, lawyers, peace activists and talk about imagery, politics, personalities, Washington, Tel Aviv and Ramallah.

No, this is no fiction. It was real, and it took place this week in the home of Palestinian businessman Zahi Khouri. This refurbished house overlooking some of the holiest sites in the Old City of Jerusalem was the setting of an interesting discussion about Middle East politics this week. The star was Richard Gere and the guests, articulate, young, energetic Palestinians. Many had not been in Jerusalem for years and were invited to talk politics, art and, of course, what can be done to improve their people's image. The case of the people of Tibet and their PR offensive was discussed as one of many models that Palestinians may want to emulate.

Khouri, who in the post-Oslo era left the comfort of New York and Florida to set up a Coca-Cola factory in Ramallah, put the latest challenge for Palestinians very simply. "The upcoming visit of Abu Mazen to Washington will have far-reaching effects on the chances of peace in the Middle East."

by Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh

The main reason that people think peace is possible now between Palestinians and Israelis, after a long period of violence and bloodshed, is, it would seem, the advent of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to power in Palestine, in the aftermath of the demise of Yasser Arafat who was seen by many as an obstacle to peace.

Arafat, many would argue, was circuitous and elusive; Abbas is transparent and straightforward. With peace in mind, Abbas says and does what should be said and done, to get things moving. He has clearly, unequivocally and unwaveringly rejected armed resistance as a means to achieving peace, and is intent upon putting the Palestinian house in order.

Furthermore, he means what he says and is sincere in his desire to reach a settlement with the Israelis. Indeed, the man is a breath of fresh air, coming as he does after a long stalemate and a pointless discourse, both Israeli and Palestinian, which reigned longer than it should have. In short, he is a man with whom both the Americans and the Israelis can do business.

The question, however, is, will they? As for the Americans, their position does not really matter much - even though we wish to think otherwise at times - for it is (especially at this moment in time) an echo of the Israeli position. Even when Americans disagree with Israel, Israel does not listen and does what it wants to do (and gets away with it) anyway. It is only when Israel is willing that the Americans can act as a catalyst. What counts then is the Israeli position.

by Linda Heard

The judgment is still out on Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). There are some

Palestine-Israel watchers who believe he is America's man on the lines of

Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai or Iraq's Iyad Allawi. Others are convinced he

is the Palestinians' best hope for peace and the establishment of a state.

I prefer to wait and see, but in the meantime, I'm inclined to give him the

benefit of the doubt.

Sure, he diplomatically refrains from referring to Israel's presence in the

West Bank and Gaza as the "occupation" it actually is, and apart from the

build-up to his election, his rhetoric tends to be low key but, perhaps,

his softly-softly pragmatic approach is just what's needed.

Look what's been achieved since Abbas took the helm. That old warhorse

Ariel Sharon has actually been received in Egypt, where he posed for an

historic handshake with his Palestinian counterpart. That didn't go down

too well with Egyptian students, admittedly, and given Sharon's bloody

past, it's understandable, but then again, they are not the ones facing

checkpoints, curfews, tanks and apache gun-ships.