Palestinians upset by Abbas apology to Kuwait

By: Ahmed Hammadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has reopened old wounds at home after healing 14-year rift with Kuwait by apologizing for Palestinian support for Iraq during the 1990 invasion.

While Abbas's gesture during a trip to the emirate this week gained plaudits from the establishment, many ordinary Palestinians see it as yet another blow to their pride and particular resent having to say sorry to a country which showed little mercy in the aftermath of the first Gulf War.

Al-Quds, the largest newspaper in the Palestinian territories, said in an editorial that Abbas' apology “reflects the official and popular position in Palestine whose people have suffered during the Israeli occupation… We hope that this act of reconciliation will allow us to open a new chapter in relations with our Kuwaiti brothers.”

However political analyst Zakaria Al-Qaq said the gesture by Abbas has “aroused great controversy on the Palestinian street.”

“Some see it as a pragmatic gesture designed to open a new page with the Kuwaitis with hope that they will respond with financial support to the Palestinians and a reopening of their labor markets,” Qaq said. But other Palestinians found his apology hard to swallow “for its role and providing facilities for the American invasion and occupation of Iraq.”

Ramallah resident Issa Fawzi said the apology showed that the post-Arafat Palestinian leadership was “too feeble and susceptible to pressure.”

Civil servant Samir Ayed reflected anger among Palestinians about their treatment by Kuwait in the aftermath of its liberation when many thousands were expelled from the oil-rich emirate. “Kuwait expelled 400,000 Palestinians and 250 others were executed,” he said.

“By apologizing to Kuwait, he has sold our pride for a fistful of dollars,” Jabar Abu As-Said, a taxi driver from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said.

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