ABU MAZEN AFTER ARAFAT BECOMES A 'SHAHID'

ABU MAZEN AFTER ARAFAT BECOMES A 'SHAHID'

By Emanuel A. Winston, a Middle East analyst & commentator

A while ago I wrote about the time when Yassir Arafat was no longer of use to the cause, he would be sacrificed as a martyr. In order to become a martyr ('shahid' in Arabic), his death would have to have the appearance of having been killed by the Israelis. This, of course, would easily be accomplished by a sniper's bullet, an explosion or most anything that could be blamed on Israel.

I would estimate that this time is drawing near. Mahmoud Abbas aka Abu Mazen is being groomed as a moderate as they attempt to clean up his history. Abu Mazen was a agent trained by the East Germans during the Soviet era and Grade A Terrorist. He and many other Arabs were trained by the Soviets in the 'fine arts' of Terror and espionage.

Abu Mazen has made speeches which are recorded and confirm that he urged the Palestinians and the Arab nations to kill the Jews. There is not a hair's breadth of difference between him and Arafat except that he has a more pleasant face and can play the moderate. Arafat accepts Abu Mazen as a proven kindred spirit who reflects and agrees with his policies 'vis a vis' the elimination of the Jewish State. Abu Mazen was, after all, his second-in-command.

While Arafat has the face of an emerging hemorrhoid, Abu Mazen has the visage of a pleasant elderly statesman - which is far more dangerous.

Abu Mazen made his thinking quite clear when he wrote a book titled: "The Secret Relations Between Naziism and Zionism". It has been reported that, in 1992, this book was translated by the Simon Wiesenthal but was requested NOT to publish the translation by Shimon Peres. If this report is accurate, that would mean that Abu Mazen was being protected by the political Left and, no doubt, by the U.S. State Department as a future replacement for Yassir Arafat. (Let us ask Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Wiesenthal Center to now release the translation if he, indeed, has it.)

Think how many times the Europeans and the Arabists at the State Department were able to scrub Arafat seemingly clean and present him as a statesman of 'quality', no matter how much evidence of his complicity in Terror had his signature.

Everyone knew he was a liar, a killer and a planner of Genocide but, yet able to pass himself off as a man who could make peace as a statesman. Abu Mazen is merely a well-spoken Arafat, selected as presentable and can front for what will be the same terrorist state envisioned by Arafat. Abu Mazen has been selected to shepherd the "Road Map" through and to act as a apologist when the Terror continues. Like Arafat, Abu Mazen will issue condemnations of suicide/homicide/genocide bombings while yet being part of their planning.

Abu Mazen was not selected by the State Department and the European Union, only because he had a face and manner that could be sold to the world as a moderate. He was also profiled as a known Terrorist who would be accepted and respected by the Arab Palestinian people who were raised on the teachings of Arafat that Terrorism was the true path. The Free West knows that a non-Terrorist, a person without Terrorist credentials, would not be accepted by either the numerous Terrorist organizations, Terrorist Nations or the Arab Palestinian people.

Abu Mazen was a Terrorist, is a Terrorist and will be a Terrorist because his entire life has been dedicated to this ideology. Abu Mazen will always be Israel's dedicated adversary and committed to her destruction - no matter how long it will take. But, as Arafat has his enemies so too will Abu Mazen and he can count Arafat as his Number One enemy.

But, Arafat is a wily, old killer - just like Saddam. Both killed off potential rivals. As long as he lives, Arafat will never allow Abu Mazen full power and to climb onto his throne. If he thought he was getting close, Abu Mazen would meet the same fate as the late Faisel Husseini who died of a sudden "heart attack" or so they said.

The question is, who will die a sudden death first - Arafat or Abu Mazen. Clearly, the death of Arafat if properly staged will serve the cause far more than Abu Mazen. The Arab 'streets' would boil with the rage they enjoy so much.

The Arab Palestinians, as a mix of Arabs drawn from many Arab lands would like to claim a legitimacy so they need legends for a national memory that does not exist in history. Unlike Arab nation such as Egypt with an ancient history, the Arab Palestinians - despite boastful and imaginative claims that they came from the Philistines or other ancient cultures are merely relatively new arrivals. So, if Arafat could achieve the heroic reputation equal to a Saladin (a Muslim Kurdish warrior of the 12th century), a dead Arafat - killed as a martyr (shahid), he would serve as a sort of mythological figure whose exploits would grow in time with the telling and re-telling. In the myth-making process so common in Arab Islamic culture Arafat would soon achieve the status of a martyr or a reincarnation linked back to those who served Mohammed. Clearly, to various Terrorists and those pushing the career of Abu Mazen, Arafat is worth far more dead than alive at this time.

I personally hope that Arafat refuses to go quietly into the night and whoever would attack him gets Abu Mazen first because he is being set up to be the iron fist in a velvet glove by the American State Department and the Europeans. If Israel is to be bashed, diminished or disposed of, they need someone who can appear as a statesman and not as a Terrorist - even though Abu Mazen is indeed a Terrorist through and through.

Be assured, the high level of protection given to Arafat throughout the worse days of this Terrorism, courtesy of the West, will be passed on to Abu Mazen no matter what atrocities in which he will be involved.

The question now is just a matter of the best timing and who will be Arafat's executioner. Although, no doubt, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel (Arik) Sharon would like the job, it is doubtful he would take it and give the Arab world another reason to continue their mantra of "We hate Sharon and the Jews...etc."

No doubt, there are plenty of Arab terrorists among the various factions who work with the PLO but hate Yassir Arafat. There would be plenty of volunteers once the word is put out that America was no longer protecting Arafat who has been under U.S. protection for many, many years. One day that infamous story will be exposed - but not today!

However, at the moment, there is a major propaganda effort underway to erase Abu Mazen's past as a calculating trained agent and Terrorist. He is to be koshered and, if necessary, baptized in the River Jordan to wash away his sins. The machinery of Statehood is being lubricated to create an aura of sainthood or, at least, to secure him a place in what has become the "rogues' gallery" of political Nobel Laureates. A sure sign will be the blessing of the High Priest of the Left, Shimon Peres - to be followed by Yossi Beilin, Yossi Sarid, Peace Now - among other such court Jews following the sycophants of Europe. So, get ready for the coronation when the church bells in Bethlehem will ring and all will say:

"The King is dead; Long live the King."

To our Israeli friends: We are in for a long war with Arab Terror. Israelis, unlike Americans, do not project solutions very well, preferring to create scenarios ('conceptzia' in Hebrew) which avoids reality. Israelis, however, have the capability of adapting to crisis situations very creatively - IF they have the benefit of accumulating the equipment for defense and the necessities for survival.

We are on the threshold of imminent war with Iraq. It is anticipated that the Arab Palestinians will attack the Jews in YESHA (Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza), both on a 'voluntary' basis stimulated by war fever projecting from their TV and other Media. They have probably also pre-planned such a 'spontaneous' uprising.

I, among others, have anticipated this in writing and verbally - in hopes of getting the Israeli government to prepare the settlements for such waves of attacks and to pre-position weapons there. Regrettably, there are still insufficient weapons and ammunition in place. During such a war, the army will be engaged at the borders and the settlements left to defend themselves. Whether these attacks occur during the present war against Iraq or after the "Road Map" creates another Arab State of Palestine in the heart of Israel, those attacks will occur. Now is the only time to train, arm and prepare the civilians for self-defense.