The Intifadah turns into Permanent Resistance

As we watch another episode of Dancing With the Stars with Senator Tom DeLay bowing out due to a bum foot (what a shame to lose that guy...)...a silent revolution is taking place in Palestine.

You aren't told about it. Last time you looked, Mahmoud Abbas (the new and improved ARAFAT) was doing just fine. His Palestinians in the West Bank were well behaved patrons of the Israeli state. Israel had built them a few malls, gave in to a few more porcelain toilets.....but wait!

Not anymore. You see, Mr. Abbas did what they all do...listened to the Zionist liars in the Israeli knesset and those little monsters in the settlements and said...poopoo on the GOLDSTONE report. Big mistake.

Did Mr. Abbas not understand the story of the third khalifa, Othman? You see...one of the three first khalifs who basically deceived alot of people into believing that the prophet Mohamed had delegated authority to...them....was named Othman. He was assassinated when he pulled exactly this same trick. He was pocketing valuables and cash while the poor did not only not remain indifferent but they marched on his palace in order to demand an explanation. Poor old Othman asked Emir Ali ibn Abi Taleb, pbuh, for some sage advice and it was given. Ali simply told him to "fess up" and don't do it (nepotism/misappropriation of charities, beating up dissenters and the like) anymore. Unfortunately for Othman however, after Ali left the building to return to his monastic set up elsewhere (where he pondered the condition of the new muslims day and night), a bad advisor came to his side. He told Othman...just tell these protesters that the Egyptians (who were also aiming at protest but hadn't reached the palace yet and were camped in a nearby valley)....were on their way home after having spoken to you (Othman). This advisor told Othman to: Tell these guys that everything is just fine and that even the Egyptian contingent are satisfied.

The palace was stormed as soon as Othman followed this worthless advice (ignoring Ali's sage advice). He was repeatedly stabbed by an unnamed protester...maybe several even. Later on, Ali was blamed for leaving Othman on his own. Of course that was ludicrous. Fact of the matter is, you cannot lie to a people who are experiencing first hand oppressions by telling them, "What Oppression?" It just doesn't work and for obvious reasons. Duh. And of course, this led to the battle of Jamal in which the young wife of the prophet, Aisha (the one people are always focusing on because of her age at the time of marriage rather than focusing on her inherent mischieviousness and downright disobedience to the prophet)....led an army against Ali ibn Abi Taleb, pbuh and not only lost but suffered the humiliation of having Aisha carted off and placed under house arrest. Her escort back to her prison was composed of women dressed as men in order to preserve any semblance of nobility she had remaining. Which was literally none and she then pretty much disappears from the pages of Islamic history. Well, not really. She is touted as heroine to this day by ignorant muslims of the Sunni sects. And there are a lot of those still hanging around but they are also fading into the past as we speak.

But here we are...another Israeli Othman in the making and his name is Mr. Mahmoud Abbas.

"As Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's supporters were celebrating another "victory" in the political battle against the PA - after it retreated from its intent to bring the Goldstone Commission report on Israel's operation in Gaza to the Security Council, it appeared that Abbas' standing in the eyes of Palestinian public opinion has never been worse. Even Balad and northern branch members, who refrain from intervening in intra-Palestinian affairs, called upon the PA president to resign this week. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera TV has been conducting a campaign against him of a sort never before directed against an Arab leader. Prominent people in Fatah are calling upon him to draw the appropriate conclusions, and Abbas' closest advisors, like Yasser Abed Rabbo, are admitting he may have made an error of judgment. The peak came on Wednesday in Gaza, when Hamas organized a humiliating ceremony in which inhabitants of the Gaza Strip were invited to fling shoes at Abbas' picture in the city center."

Some pertinent details of this thing known as The Goldstone Report:

Soon after its establishment the Mission was faced with one of its major challenges: the decision of the Government of Israel not to cooperate with it and its implicit refusal to give us access to Gaza, the West Bank and to southern Israel.

The Mission found that the attack on the only remaining flour producing factory, the destruction of a large part of the Gaza egg production, the bulldozing of huge tracts of agricultural land, and the bombing of some two hundred industrial facilities, could not on any basis be justified on military grounds. Those attacks had nothing whatever to do with the firing of rockets and mortars at Israel.

The Mission was concerned at the use made by the Israeli army of certain munitions and especially white phosphorous, flechettes and certain heavy metals such as tungsten. Their use is not presently banned by international law.

Since the issue of the advance copy of the Report it has been rejected in vehement terms by the Government of Israel. The call for transparent investigations has been rejected. The Government of Israel wishes to restrict its investigations to secret inquiries by the Military investigating itself. That would clearly not satisfy the legitimate expectations of the many victims of the Israeli military operations.

A culture of impunity in the region has existed for too long.

The lack of accountability for war crimes and possible crimes against humanity has reached a crisis point; the ongoing lack of justice is undermining any hope for a successful peace process and reinforcing an environment that fosters violence. Time and again, experience has taught us that overlooking justice only leads to increased conflict and violence.