Poor Abbas: Whither Goest Thou?

The news is truly unbelievable. Palestinian Authority president and leader of the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, was stripped of his Jordanian citizenship by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a citizenship and passport which he received approximately fifteen years ago.

In a surprising move, the Jordanian government has revoked citizenship of more than three thousand Palestinians. Many more thousands of revocations are expected.

The reason given by King Abdullah II’s government is the Palestinian’s intention is to turn the Kingdom of Jordan into a proposed State of Palestine. Of the 9,000 people living in Jordan, 6000 of them are Palestinians, most who fled to Jordan in 1948.

The King is not happy with so many Palestinians serving in various positions in his kingdom and has removed thousands of them from their positions, to be replaced by native Jordanians.

In the most recent development the kingdom has revoked citizenship of all members of Abbas’ government including all of his advisors.

Now, without Jordanian citizenship and passport, where will the Palestinian leadership go?

Poor Abbas. Whither goest thou? Born in one of the four Jewish holy cities, Safed in Galilee, on November 15, 1935, his family fled to Syria in 1948 and Mahmoud Abbas was educated in Damascus.

In 1982 he received the equivalent of a Ph.D. from the Soviet Union’s Patrice Lumumba University. His thesis was entitled “The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism”. In it, he denied the Holocaust’s number of six million murdered Jews and made a ridiculous claim that Zionists were responsible for the war.

Returning to what is now Israel, Abbas became a strong supporter of the Palestine Liberation Organization which heralded violence against Israel and Israelis.

Active in the political world of Palestinian Arab corruption, Abbas became an ally of Yasser Arafat who embezzled millions from the Palestinian Authority’s funds.

Following the death of Arafat, he was succeeded by the election of Abbas to the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, the post which he presently holds.

An Israeli member of the Knesset, Efraim Sneh, wrote on April 19, 2006 “Abbas is the most courageous partner we have had”. The historical facts disclaim that statement.

The lack of unity between Fatah and Hamas prevents the solidarity of a union for the proposed State of Palestine. Demanding the Authority’s control of the Gaza Strip and outlawing Hamas’ terrorists, Abbas’ future hangs in the balance. He is a dejected old man who sits in a palace in Ramallah, now wondering where he will go.

The Kingdom of Jordan will deny him entry for fear that he might choose to remain in the country and upset the balance of power.

Humorously, it is coincidental that both the late Zeev Jabotinsky, leader of the Revisionist Zionist movement which ultimately became the basis for the Likud party under Menachem Begin’s leadership, and Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, both proclaimed that Jordan is Palestine.

So now, without citizenship and a recognized passport, the question remains: Poor Abbas. Whither goest thou?

Perhaps the Gazans will allow him to live with them. Or perhaps he may be invited to Kuwait or Qatar or one of the other Gulf emirates.

But be assured of one thing: we have not heard the last word from Mahmoud Abbas.