PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS WRITES FRANCE TO RECOGNIZE PALESTINIAN STATE

Written by Michael Thervil

Elysee Palace Paris, France July 20, 2022. | Photo by Anadolu Agency

[President Mahmoud Abbas-France to recognize Palestinian State] Yesterday the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, 89, sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he described the PA’s letter as containing “concrete and unprecedented commitments” to reform. The PA’s writing of this letter comes just in time as France is scheduled to appear at the United Nations in New York next week. President Mahmoud Abbas’s letter expressed condemnation of Hamas’s attack on October 7th of 2023 as well as the immediate release of all prisoners held in custody by Hamas. 

In his speech given in Rafa yesterday, President Abbas made the statement: 

“Hamas must end it control of the Gaza Strip, hand over all of its affairs to the Palestine liberation organization (PLO) and the legitimate Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and refrain from carrying arms, transforming a political party that operates according to the laws of the Palestine state and adheres to international legitimacy.” 

Within the letter to France, President Mahmoud Abbas stated the following: 

“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestine security forces, which will oversee their removal outside the occupied Palestine territory, with Arab and international support.” 

It should also be noted that President Abbas’s statement appears to be directly in line with Egypt's position regarding the disarmament of Hamas.  

Also, within President Mahmoud’s letter to France, it was reported that he has vowed to hold general elections within one year to facilitate a rejuvenation of how Palestine is governed. With that vow, President Abbas has also taken the position that Hamas should be excluded from governance and that the PA should be reformed. This letter written to President Macron comes at a time when some geopolitical speculators have been peddling the notion that France is strongly considering recognizing Palestine as a state and would be one of the few nations within the Collective West to do so.  

On the flip side, other geopolitical speculators are making statements that the French have seemed to cave under the pressure of Israel by ensuring the Israeli’s that the U.N. conference will not serve as a springboard for them to make any kind of announcement that they will support Palestine becoming a recognized state. President Abbas has accused Hamas of “inflicting severe damage to the Palestinian cause” since it took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. 

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There’s a lot of other unpack here. President Abbas has been in control (if anyone can call it that) of Palestine since Hassan Arafat’s death in 2003 and since the position has been held by nearly every geopolitical analyst and pundit that President Abbas has done nothing of significance to enhance the lives of Palestinian people. under his leadership and the leadership of the PA, the only thing that Palestine people have known is subpar living conditions, socioeconomic degradation, and the taste of death from Israel. This is why most Palestinians express such a disapproval of both President Abbas and the PA.  

Not only do the Palestine people dislike him, but his administration is largely seen as illegitimate through the eyes of Palestinians and across the world because he has hardly ever taken a stance against the actions of Israel and America, but he has never taken a true stance in defense of the Palestinian people. The evidence is shown with 80% of Gaza and West Bank being bombed by Israel, their homes and cities being reduced to rubble, the deaths of over 55,000 Palestinians, and the famine and starvation that is going on which has further reduced the number of Palestinian people on their own land.  

With regards to Hamas turning in their weapons, both President Abbas and the PA can forget about it. Keep in mind that it was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who spent billions of American dollars to fund Hamas for decades along with Iran, Qatar, Türkiye, private donors, and various Arab Gulf States, charities, and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s). With Hamas receiving so much funding from various sources coupled with the fact that the PA and Hamas are not only political rivals, but Israel's aggressive stance towards Hamas is seen as a provocation within the organization of Hamas; all the necessary mechanisms have been put in place and solidified to keep Hamas active as a political organization in both Gaza, the West Bank, but Palestine in general.

In short, it is said by many people the world over that President Abbas is not only a weak leader, but an extremely incompetent one. There have been a few instances where Palestinians have accused him of engaging in corruption. The people of Palestine desperately need strong and decisive leadership. This is something that the Palestine people not only want but deserve. If the Palestinian people really want change, then the ousting of President Abbas and the dissolution of the PA must occur. What happened on October 7th, was not necessarily the fault of Hamas, but the fault of decades of weak governance and leadership.