If You Think The West Has Whitewashed Kaddafi For Years, What About Abbas?

he whitewash of Libya by the West is rivaled only by its coverup of Abbas and his regime.
Khaled Abu Toameh writes about some key similarities in the abuses in the West Bank and Gaza by Fatah and Hamas

The power struggle between Hamas and Fatah is not one between good guys and bad guys: It is a power struggle between bad guys and bad guys. Hamas is bad; but who said that Fatah is any better? Hamas is in power mainly thanks to Fatah's corruption and bad governance.

Almost every day, Palestinians are arrested by Hamas or Fatah and held without trial. The two governments have also been apprehending journalists and political opponents, who complain about torture and intimidation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip prisons.


...Both Hamas and Fatah have shown intolerance toward their critics, often cracking down on those who dare to speak out in support of reform and democracy.

Nevertheless, Abbas and the Palestinian Authority get a free pass.

Meanwhile, the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza see the protests going on all around them in the Muslim world and have been attempting protests of their own--albeit on a much smaller scale:

Using Facebook, dozens of Palestinians have waged a campaign aimed at forcing Hamas and Fatah to end their power struggle, and place the interests of the people above all considerations.

In the past few days, thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets to express their discontent with the two Palestinian governments. Many have also been signing petitions urging Fatah and Hamas to stop the war they have been waging against one another since the summer of 2007.

A growing number of Palestinians seem to be fed up with this dispute and want to see the two sides doing something good for the people, not fighting against one another.

But then comes the catch:

But most of all, they need to hear - and see -- from America and Europe that they are willing to support and help to put in place institutions of democracy -- above all, freedom of speech without which no other freedoms are possible, as well as rule of law, open education, freedom of the press, equal justice under law, transparency in banking, property rights, and other freedoms of the west-- and not just set in motion a shallow process that will only set in motion an even more oppressive form of government down the road.

We have already seen how reluctant the West was to admit that their rehabilitation of Kaddafi was a complete sham. The world was slow to respond to the shooting of the protesters. Even now, for all the talk and condemnation, the West is uneasy about taking action.

Does anyone really think that the West will admit the degree of corruption rampant in Abbas and his government--let alone its repression of the Arabs in the West Bank. Like the deliberate incitement of hate against Israel that is a regular feature of Abbas's policy, the oppressive actions of the Palestinian Authority against both its people and the press proceed unchallenged by either the West or the media.

True, Abbas has not had his people shot the way Kaddafi has.
But is that what it will take for the countries financing his government to take notice?

Technorati Tag: Abbas and West Bank and Palestinian Authority.