Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid

Sadly for Ahmad Qorei (Abu Alaa) he has now become prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. It is bad luck for anyone to become part of the government now that Mahmoud Abbas has thrown in the towel and left — thus leaving the office to Arafat’s men, who drove him to distraction.

Who would want to be prime minister in Ramallah?

It is a foolish politician indeed who would agree to work there and offer himself up to internal conflicts, Israeli insults and constant disappointment from the Americans. His job is to negotiate on behalf of Arabs and Palestinians, and for that reason he will be insulted on all Arab TV channels and become the subject of poisonous caricatures. He will head a government some of whose members are only waiting to stab him in the back while outside they will put up roadblocks until he announces that he is leaving — just like Abbas, who was told upon his appointment that his most important quality would be patience.

Qorei wasn’t able to escape being harmed by Israelis nor will he be able to escape the meddling of colleagues. It doesn’t matter very much that he has great experience. In future negotiations he will be able to draw on his record in Oslo, on all that he has learned from his time as a parliamentarian. But the more important point is that Qorei deals with problems by confronting them head-on. The events of last year exemplify this. Soldiers of the occupying forces fired eight shots at his car at a roadblock near Ramallah on the West Bank, but instead of turning around and running, Qorei stopped his armored car and shouted at the Israelis until they stopped shooting and allowed him to pass through the roadblock.

The occupied territories are full of roadblocks, shootings and unknown dangers everywhere, and if you escape those you still have to face your colleagues. When they accused Abu Mazen of being an agent for Israel, he decided to step down as prime minister. If Qorei now accepts the post but then follows suit and gives up, then no self-respecting politician will ever take the job again. It is already considered the most dangerous in the world.

Many of the members of the Palestinian Authority simply do not realize the extent of the harm these personal attacks have done to the whole of the Palestinian cause. If Abu Alaa decides to take the job, thereby risking both his safety and reputation, that will be a courageous and important decision. Not the least of its implications will be that it could save the reputation of the Palestinian leadership, which has begun, rightly or wrongly, to look like nothing but a collection of people who are in it for personal gain.

- Arab News Opinion 13 September 2003