Who are the freedom fighters?

http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/FSB/031121/art.05.html

OMAR IBRAHIM KARSOU NATIONALITY: PALESTINIAN A banker from Nablus who lived in Ramallah until relocating to New York a couple of years ago, Omar Karsou founded an organization called Democracy in Palestine, to ignite a grassroots challenge to Yasser Arafat and introduce reform in the Palestinian Authority. To this end, Karsou — who embraced US President George W. Bush’s "axis of evil" speech — met with senior officials in Washington to discuss alternative leadership.

The following is an excerpt from an op-ed Karsou published in The Daily Telegraph in July 2002:

"…Middle Easterners love to dwell on the past — it is part of our ’victimhood game’: it seems always to be somebody else’s fault. But to forge ahead, we need to go beyond the past. If we are to hope for a better future for the next generation, we need accountability and new strategies. We have to place power into the hands of the true representatives of the majority, while giving the minority an equal platform.

"It is only through a democratic system that we can ensure a lasting peace and prolonged prosperity. This is the only way that we can be sure that a meritocracy distinguishes one Palestinian from another. It is only then that we can be sure our elected leaders have the people’s interests at heart; otherwise they know they will be voted out.

"Suddenly, there is a good deal of talk about reform and elections in Palestine. That is all very well. But democracy is not just a simple practice of electing a leader. After all, the Soviet Union held elections regularly, and Cubans go to the polls every five years. Before elections are held in Palestine, we must ensure that all other elements of a free society are in place: freedom of the press; freedom to hold political rallies; equal time on state-run media.

"More important, we must change our electoral system. The present one was adopted to produce a strong man in power — a dictatorial government was the inevitable result. To fall for the same trap would be a national disaster."

...................................................................

sounds like a intelligent person

as long as it comes from the Palestinians themselves.

"It is only through a democratic system that we can ensure a lasting peace and prolonged prosperity. This is the only way that we can be sure that a meritocracy distinguishes one Palestinian from another. It is only then that we can be sure our elected leaders have the people’s interests at heart; otherwise they know they will be voted out."

<snip> A bearded, balding man, who looked to be of Middle Eastern origin, approached the side table around which U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney and his senior advisers were dining 10 days ago. The Secret Service men allowed him through after a brief ID check. Cheney and his colleagues, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, had a good reason for inviting the Palestinian banker, whose name was familiar to few until then, to the meal in Colorado...

Karsou claims that instead of staying away from Arafat and his tricky games, Israel fell captive to the concept expressed by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin: Arafat will fight fundamentalist Islamic terror "without a Supreme Court and without B'Tselem" {a human rights organization active in the territories}. Karsou claims that this attitude betrayed a racist attitude on the part of the Israeli left, according to which forcing a dictatorial regime on the Palestinians was the right step, because the Arabs are unable to sustain a democracy...

Karsou's knowledge about what goes on in Israel comes from a long familiarity with Israeli politics. His family lived in Nablus. The father of the family founded the first company for money-changing in the West Bank, which quickly became the largest of its kind in the Middle East. The company opened branches all over the Arab world, in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Kuwait and Amman. After studying economics at the University of Buckingham in England, Karsou returned to the family business, working in various managerial positions. The company thrived, but in 1986 the Jordanian prime minister ordered its assets frozen, in response to the decision by the Bank of Israel to grant it a banking license. The Jordanians, who refused at the time to obey the demand of the Arab League to sever themselves from the West Bank, didn't agree to independent Palestinian activity that was recognized by Israel. The Jordanian ruling led to the closing of the firm's branches, and to the loss of its assets...

U.S. President George W. Bush's Middle East vision, which called for a change in the PA regime and the founding of democratic institutions, played into Karsou's hands. The meeting with Cheney was preceded by thorough preparations. He met with senior officials in the State Department, the Defense Department and the National Security Council, and began to acquire their trust. Not only in Washington did he find a sympathetic ear: During the past year, he has found an enthusiastic supporter in the person of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Housing and Construction Natan Sharansky, who has met with him several times. (more)

Haaretz

From what I can gather, Karsou has received ediorial encouragement from the Jerusalem Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Sun. Hmmm...

so what do you think about him?

Are you asking for my opinion?

y e s .

I agree with him!

"Karsou claims that instead of staying away from Arafat and his tricky games, Israel fell captive to the concept expressed by then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin: Arafat will fight fundamentalist Islamic terror "without a Supreme Court and without B'Tselem" {a human rights organization active in the territories}. Karsou claims that this attitude betrayed a racist attitude on the part of the Israeli left, according to which forcing a dictatorial regime on the Palestinians was the right step, because the Arabs are unable to sustain a democracy..."

But some very good points overall. There's not many articles that one can completely agree with, those that are a voice of reason ;)

those who have the courage to say "the emperor is naked"

After decades of non-violent struggle during which he suffered endless persecution--banning, detention, and police harassment--, he finally left South Africa for military training and took up arms against the South African apartheid regime. He was convicted to life imprisonment and jailed for almost 30 years.

Saying the emperor has no clothes can best be termed political dissidence. A far cry from what a true visionary and freedom fighter like Mandela dared.

I can't share the good Doctor's enthusiasm. The article comes from the Jerusalem Post, hardly a reliable or unbiased source for news and information. Of course, the Post will examine any possible alternative to Arafat, especially one that might ask "How high?" when he's told to jump by somebody in Washington or Tel Aviv.

The Karsou story by now looks too familiar. He left his home and made his way in America, where he enjoyed success as a businessman and formed an exile organization. Now, the Bushies are talking to him. The Bushies want regime change in the PA and arrogate the right to impose their man on another country.

Arafat is the latest easy-to-villify foreign leader to end up on the Bush junta's hit list. Like the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam in Iraq, one can make a good case that he is a poor excuse for a leader and that the people of his nation would be better off if he were replaced. At this point, the junta's propagandists advance their man and pull the black-or-white fallacy out of their rhetorical bag of tricks: If you don't support (fill in the name of the junta's annoited choice) to lead (fill in the name of the foreign state on the axis-of-evil list), then you obviously support (fill in the name of the current unpalatable dictator). After that, debate is stiffled, the media is compliant and Congressional Democrats roll over and agree to fund another colonial misadventure.

What we've gotten for this strategy is Karzai in Afghanistan and Chalabi in Iraq. Karzai can't extend his authority beyond the capital city. Chalabi, a convicted embezzler, is even more pathetic; he has so little credibility in Iraq that he can't even assume authority as a puppet dictator from the present colonial viceroy, Mr. Bremer.

It's time to stop trusting the Bush junta on these matters. Bush has made a series of bad situations worse by his clumsy meddling and phoney excuses for colonial wars. Arafat needs replaced, but replacing him with another weak puppet like Karzai or Chalabi won't prevent one act of terrorism in the region.

Regardless of how capable Karsou is of emitting the pro-democracy squeaks Washington wants to hear--Chalabi has made a career and a fortune out of it--, I am more than skeptical when the Wall Street Journal dubs him a Palestinian Mandela.

It's perhaps also pertinent that he "unveiled" his Democracy in Palestine movement in May 2002, during a panel discussion at the Hudson Institute with Bernard Lewis and Richard Perle.

Oh, Jack, I just discovered something that seems to strengthen perhaps yours reservations. Very shortly after meeting with Cheney, Karsou announced his intention to run for the Palestinian presidency (July 2002). Odd that that fact is not mentioned in the original blurb at the top of this thread.