Jan 27 2016
Abbas defends policy
By Daoud Kuttab
In today’s politically expedient age, it has become rare to see a leader defend one of his own.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, went on air this week, attempting to deflect the avalanche of angry protests directed at the Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj.
Faraj and a chief Palestinian negotiator were featured in a long article published in an American military publication.
The New York-based Defence News quoted Faraj as saying that the Palestinian security averted nearly 200 attacks against Israelis and arrested 100 Palestinians that were about to attack Israelis.
The statements drew angry responses, especially from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movement.
Faraj was attacked even by a number of PLO leaders for his public justification of security cooperation with Israel at a time of continued Israeli summary executions of young Palestinian protesters. Continue Reading »