by Stephen Lendman

Five days ahead of Abbas petitioning the UN for Palestinian statehood and full UN membership, it's important to know who's friend or foe.

Abbas and Fayyad never did represent Palestinians and don't now.

Both lack legitimacy. Israel rigged Abbas' January 2005 presidential victory. Moreover, his term expired in January 2009. Nonetheless, he's still in office because Israel and Washington want him there.

More on him below.

Fayyad is equally disreputable. In the 2006 legislative elections, his Third Way party won two of 132 seats. Yet he's prime minister illegitimately with no popular mandate.

What Palestinians do or don't get in New York depend on two men representing Israel and Washington.

Smart money wagers they'll accept less than Palestinians deserve, if anything. Bet on it!

Spread the word. On September 23, when Abbas petitions the UN, sellout and betrayal will result at a time statehood and full UN membership are within easy grasp if proper procedures are followed.

They won't be, assuring defeat!

Mahmoud Abbas - A Treacherous Illegitimate Leader

At least since Oslo, he's served Israeli, not Palestinian, interests for whatever benefits he gets but won't say. Notably, his son Yasser is a millionaire businessman who openly admits collaborating with Israel. His father does it tacitly.

His title is "president." His role is "enforcer," suppressing peaceful demonstrations, arresting his own people, and loyally serving Israel as an illegitimate Quisling head of state.

Representing Israel in Oslo were an array of experts, supported by maps, documents, statistics, and at least 17 prior drafts of what Palestinians finally signed.

Palestinians only got to bring three PLO representatives. None spoke English well or at all or properly understood international law. The result was predictable. Israel got the one-sided deal it prepared. Palestinians became Israel's enforcer.

Core issues were ignored, including Palestinian statehood, fixed borders, settlement expansions, the right of return, ending Israel's occupation, East Jerusalem as a future Palestinian capital, and establishing a unified government for all Palestinians.

As chief negotiator, Abbas took credit for an outcome leaving Palestinians worse off, not better.

Though one of Fatah's founders and longstanding members, as well as secretary-general of its Central Committee, his role through most, if not all, that time served Israel, not Palestine.

As a result, he was a tailor-made stooge, a perfect central-casting choice for president in 2005.

Israel controlled the election, elevating him by imprisoning leading opposition candidate Marwan Barghouti on bogus murder charges.

Seven candidates participated. Independent Mustafa Barghouti stood out for demanding real reform, ending corruption and mismanagement, as well as promising to consolidate rule of law standards.

As a result, Israel obstructed, hounded, persecuted and arrested him during the campaign. He was expelled from East Jerusalem to prevent a planned campaign speech.

Repeatedly harassed and intimidated, he was also excluded from Nablus and Gaza to assure easy victory for Abbas.

In disgust, Hamas and Islamic Jihad boycotted the sham process.

Israel got what it wanted, its man running Palestine who'll show up in New York on Friday in the same role - a collaborationist traitor, not a man Palestinians can trust.

Salam Fayyad - A Perfect Number Two

A technocrat, his background includes economic research at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank as well as top IMF and World Bank posts. In fact, until 2001, he was IMF's man in Palestine, serving Yasser Arafat as finance minister.

A political opportunist, Israel and Washington understood his value. He didn't disappoint, providing enforcer services like Abbas.

Operating with CEO authority, he concentrated greater executive branch power for himself. As a result, court orders were ignored. Judges bowed out of sensitive political issues, and an independent judiciary was lost.

His type security depends on enforcing Israeli authority and isolating Hamas and other resistance groups.

He was appointed prime minister, not elected, at Israel's behest. Washington, of course, backs him, and why not.

He condemns violence against Israel, ignores Palestinian persecution, is instrumental in furthering it, and settles for diaspora Palestinians resettling in a future bantustan Palestinian state not fit to live in.

Backing him is a 25,000-strong Palestinian Authority Security Force (PASF). Until his October 2010 retirement, they were trained, equipped, vetted and run by America's Lt. General Keith Dayton, US security coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the PA.

In fact, Hamas called PASF "Dayton Forces."

Lt. General Michael Moeller replaced him, formerly responsible for CENTCOM strategic planning.

Under his command, thousands of Palestinians complete 19 weeks of training at Jordan's International Police Training Center, built with US funds in 2003 to instruct Iraqi police.

As explained above, Fayyad represents Israel, Washington, and other Western interests.

Committing nothing in return for demanding Palestinian concessions, he and Abbas chose appeasement, not resistance against Israeli occupation and repression.

Rhetoric aside, they've done nothing to contest Israeli apartheid, land theft, dispossessions, settlement expansions, East Jerusalem Judaization, mass arrests, appropriation of most West Bank resources (especially water), or decades of illegal military occupation.

At the same time, they've benefitted handsomely by serving two masters, Israel and Washington, at the expense of their own people.

On September 23, they'll show up in New York in their usual role, claiming they tried hard but failed. Or maybe calling failure success. Either way it's betrayal.

Final Comments

Nearing the 11th hour, imperial Washington is working overtime to enlist anti-Palestinian statehood support.

At issue is avoiding an embarrassing veto by convincing enough Security Council members to oppose Palestinian independence or abstain to let America do the same thing.

Instead of profile in courage honor, US foreign policy is defined by duplicity, betrayal, debasing core democratic values, and war as a first or last choice.

Israel is no better, especially under its most extremist ever government. Sticking with his hardline position, Netanyahu said:

"When the Palestinian Authority abandons these futile and unilateral measures at the UN, it will find Israel to be a genuine partner for direct peace negotiations."

By now, everyone should know Netanyahu like Obama and their top officials are serial liars.

Moreover, let's make a deal their way is take it or leave it, followed by a hammer if say no.

Diplomacy involves even-handed give and take while avoiding hostile confrontations. American and Israeli style involve pressure, intimidation, and threatened consequences for disobeying. Expect it to continue all week.

On September 18, Haaretz writer Gideon Levy headlined, "Obama's historic opportunity," saying:

How will he explain a position mirror opposite of "the enlightened - and less enlightened - world?"

After 63 years, do Palestinians deserve less than Libya under an illegitimate puppet regime? Will Obama grasp the hypocrisy and understand the historic significance of doing the right thing?

Not likely from a man promising change, "turning out" duplicitous like all the rest. "With regard to Israel, there is no difference between him and the last of the celebrants at the Tea Party."

Instead of a promised "new dawn" for world Muslims, he's the "same old American wolf," marching in lockstep with rogue Israeli leaders.

How can a "black president (trained in the law) bow down (so willingly) to (an extremist Israeli) right-wing government" and the Israeli and Christian fascist lobbies?

Why is doing the wrong thing so easy for him? He proves it daily abroad and at home. Spurning a historic moment, he again favors confrontation over peace and reconciliation.

How often can this repeat before all his supporters know they were fooled again. He's no different than the rest. In fact, he's worse! Much worse!

At issue only is who will he betray and bomb next!

Why not with an agenda focused on waging war on humanity!

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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