He's not part of Hamas - he's Fatah isn't he?
Edit: ahh.. I see what you're saying now. I thought Palestine was still partly governed by Fatah, but it is Hamas now. So it's not Abbas calling the shots anymore.
Got it.
Well then this kind of settles it for me then. If there is any solution to this whole dilemma, it must come from within Palestine. Israelis will never be able to eradicate Hamas, but Fatah may be able to usurp them.
Ahhh...okay, you really don't know anything about Palestinian politics.........
Sorry, I thought you were baiting me.
Like in the USA, elections in Palestine elect a completely separate President and council. Abbas is Fatah........Arafat's old party. Hamas is the other major party.
The problem is that Fatah is incredibly, unrestrainedly, and viciously corrupt. Arafat stole billions (yes, with a "b") of dollars of aid money and put it in personal bank accounts. Nepotism was business as usual, with the upper echelons of Fatah getting rich at the expense of the masses.
Hamas, crazy as they are, are not known to steal money for the purposes of building mansions and private bank accounts, genocidal creeps they may be, but they are not usually money-greedy.....
So, in January of 2006, Hamas won 44% of the Congressional vote, making them the largest political party............and the Palestinian authority proceeded to tear itself apart.........
Fatah and Hamas happily kill each other.....Hamas, pushed somewhat by Fatah, seized absolute power in Gaza, and set out to butcher Fatah supporters.......
There has (obviously) been no election since.
Readers' Digest Condensed Version of PA politics....