AMMAN -- Israel is promoting Iranophobia in the Middle East, but the Zionist regime is the real threat to the region not Iran, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said on Saturday.Here we have a classic example of how little Palestinian Arab "leaders" care about their own people, and indeed how "hawks" such as Binyomin Netanyahu care more about ordinary Palestinian Arabs than people who claim to represent them.
“I have come to the World Economic Forum to say that Israel is behind the Iranophobia plot and is seeking to depict Iran as the main threat to the security and economy of the region. Everybody should be aware that the only threat in the region is Israel’s occupation and not Iran,” he told the Mehr News Agency correspondent in Shuneh, Jordan.
“Although this meeting is an economic event, as you see, the dispute between Israel and Palestine is the focus of the discussions,” he added.
The 2009 World Economic Forum meeting on the Middle East opened at the Dead Sea port of Shuneh, Jordan on Friday.
He also said, “One might wonder what a Palestinian is doing among businessmen at a meeting on economy. We are here to deliver a message, and that is peace, security, and economic development in the region can only be realized after the end of the Israeli occupation.”
Before the end of the occupation of Palestine, any economic development in the region would be unreal, he noted.
Erekat, an accomplished hypocrite and liar, is showing his love for Iran even as many Arab leaders (including Abbas) are increasingly skittish about the mad mullahs who openly support Islamic radicals like Hamas and Hezbollah and oppose obstinately secular movements like Fatah.
Moreover, he is telling his people that they should sit still, continue to take money from the West and do everything they can to avoid prosperity and economic growth because his concept of "peace" is more important than their everyday lives.
This, of course, is all happening at the same time that PA leaders and their relatives grow rich at the expense of these same people with their corruption and nepotism. Apparently, some Palestinian Arabs can take advantage of economic opportunities, as long as they are the right ones in high places. The ones who inexplicably still live in so-called "refugee camps" as well as those who try to make a decent living in Bethlehem and Ramallah must remain patsies of people like Erekat forever, because to him and the rest of their so-called leadership these people are far more valuable as pawns and statistics whose entire purpose is to be used as photo-ops to pressure Israel.
Netanyahu wants to improve the lives of Palestinian Arabs before tackling issues like statehood. One could naively make an argument that the two issues should go forward simultaneously. Erekat's position, however, is that the 61 years of enforced Palestinian Arab misery is an optimal situation and must be prolonged, and his people are only there to be used so he and his fellow "moderate" leaders can continue to make asinine statements like these and still retain the respect of the world.