Does Mahmoud Abbas Support One-State Solution Posters?

Does Mahmoud Abbas Support One-State Solution Posters?

Two weeks ago I reported that Fatah supporters in the West Bank were defacing and taking down signs calling for a one-state solution. The posters, which were put up by a group called Takamul,called for "one democratic state for five million Arabs and six million Jews." A statement from Fatah said that they rejected “this disastrous campaign, and calls upon all our people everywhere to boycott it and stand as one against it.”

Two photos posted today by Jenny Baboun, a Ma’an News Agency reporter, show that these posters are continuing to be defaced. According to Baboun, these posters were in Bethlehem. I am told from a source that the campaign thus far has been relatively small.

Photo by Jenny Baboun

Photo by Jenny Baboun

All indications are that the posters are being defaced by Fatah supporters, but does Mahmoud Abbas possibly support the posters? At this point I do not think that this is the case, but if one was to take up such an argument here was what you could base your argument upon.

According to InLightPress, Sky Advertising, which is owned by Mahmoud Abbas’ son Tarek, owns the boards and poles that the posters were placed on. InLightPress charges that Sky’s involvement is contrary to Fatah’s efforts against the posters.  

In 2010, Mahmoud Abbas personally introduced one of the leaders of Takamul to George Mitchell at the Muqata'a in Ramallah. According to Akiva Eldar, Abbas was attempting to show American officials "the gravity of his political situation..." In other words, it was a threat. If the peace process fails, the Palestinians are prepared to go another route.

This week former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said that "The one state solution might be, despite all of its inherent conflicts and problems not particularly exclusive to it, one of the solutions that we would do well to consider." According to Yasser al-Masri, the leader of Takamul who met with Mitchell in 2010, the group is made up of academics and intermediate level Fatah members. Does this now include Qurei?


http://challahhuakbar.blogspot.com/2012/03/does-mahmoud-abbas-support-one-state.html