Abu Mazen's Hollow Popularity
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas continues to poll well among Palestinians because of a lack of a viable alternative, not due to public affection for his rule.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Mahmoud Abbas, the de facto president of the Palestinian Authority, has been dominant in the Palestinian political scene for more than 20 years. In a column on Al-Monitor on Sept. 9, Daoud Kuttab referred to Abbas as Palestine’s “Teflon leader” and highlighted that Abbas continues to poll well among Palestinians despite regular accusations thrown against him. But such polls may not translate into real public affection for Abbas per se, and may have more to do with the lack of a viable alternative.
As far as political failures are concerned, they are abounding for Abbas. Many believed that the Oslo Accords would herald in a new era of peace and stability, but two decades later, the purpose of the agreements, of which Abbas was a key architect, glaringly depict a process designed to cover Israeli occupation policies, all under the nose of a Palestinian government with limited self-rule and zero autonomy.
Elected as the president of the PA in 2005, following the death of former PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Abbas’ tenure oversaw the political division between Fatah and Hamas, two deadly Israeli military offensives on Gaza — where it is documented that he had previous knowledge of the massacre in the winter of 2008/2009 — and the increase of Jewish-only settlements and settlers alike in the West Bank.
At the same time, the West Bank grew under the illusion of an economic boom, as the transformation of the society into a high-end consumer one and the dependency of Palestinians on loans have mired the population and the Palestinian Authority into colossal debt. The PA’s security forces developed into a sophisticated and widespread force fulfilling the role of the Israeli occupation army while simultaneously suppressing any dissent against the PA and resistance aimed at Israel.
