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The reaction of the Palestinian Authority to the explosive allegations made by PLO political section head Farouq Qaddoumi at a press conference in Jordan last week accusing Mahmoud Abbas of conspiring to kill Yasser Arafat has been depressing, yet entirely predictable.
Instead of challenging Qaddoumi to produce his evidence, the Fateh leadership has followed the well trodden path of other Arab regimes by punishing the messenger and closing down al-Jazeera’s operations in the West Bank, which was just one of many channels that broadcast the allegations.
The PA leadership has a long history of tensions with al Jazeera, which it has often accused of being a mouthpiece for Hamas. These claims, however, do not hold much weight and the real reasons are a lot more basic, i.e. that Arab leaders are simply unable to countenance any form of media criticism even when their reactions prove to be completely counterproductive. This is the case here. Aside from issues of freedom of speech and calling into question the PA leadership’s commitment to democratic values (slight at best), the decision just doesn’t make any sense.
Al-Jazeera remains by far the most popular and trusted news source in the Arab world. In addition to devoting a substantial proportion of its airtime to Palestinian affairs, the channel has arguably done more to promote a balanced view of the Palestinian issue worldwide than the Arab League has in its entire history. As such, it is held in deep regard by the majority of Palestinians. So why on earth would Abbas think it was a good idea to silence it and why do Arab leaders in general continue to undermine their own scant legitimacy through self defeating attempts to silence the media? There are no easy answers here, but fear, insecurity and overblown egos feature largely in the mix.
As such, not only will the PA’s actions further undermine its legitimacy, they will also add weight to Qaddoumi’s remarks and fuel conspiracy theories concerning the nature of the Arafat’s death and Abbas’ exact relationship with Israel. Furthermore, it also sends the wrong signal to the US concerning the possibility of a future Palestinian state based on the rule of law and democratic freedoms. At the same time it will give plenty of ammunition to those forces in both the US and Israel who argue that a Palestinian state would create more problems than it would solve, by adding yet another repressive dictatorship to an already problematic region. Despite its exposure of Israeli war crimes during the offensive in Gaza, al Jazeera continues to operate freely in Israel.
An interesting side take on this story was also the Jordanian government’s need to usher a quick apology to the PA for Qaddoumi’s remarks. The point here being that given the authoritarian nature of Arab regimes, the fact that he was even allowed to utter these allegations on Jordanian soil may imply the government had given its tactic approval. Fair enough, it’s understandable why Jordan would want to disassociate itself from the remarks, but nevertheless is indicative of the petty mindset of regimes throughout the Arab world that are struggling to come to terms with the concept of free speech and new media.
