Can Abbas Control His Thugs?

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah party, has become the first Palestinian terror gang to endorse Iran's calls to "wipe Israel off the map".

In a leaflet distributed in the Gaza Strip, the Fatah group (Aksa Brigades) voiced full support for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements in which he said that Israel "must be wiped off the map." "We affirm our support and backing for the positions of the Iranian president toward the Zionist state which, by God's will, will cease to exist," said the leaflet. "Recognizing Israel's right to exist means underestimating the Palestinian people, who are making daily sacrifices to liberate Palestine and Jerusalem."

PA officials told the JPost that the leaflet does not reflect the stance PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

But how much control can Abbas have over gangs like Hamas and Islamic Jihad when groups from his own Fatah party take such stands?

Aksa Brigades supporters. So much for Abbas' ban on the public display of weapons.

Comments

[James Clark]

Abbas has no control over Palestinian militants.

It is obvious. If he did, people would not be dying in Israel everyday from violence instigated by them.

He goes from occasionally condemning their actions to ignoring them. They go from occasionally calling him a traitor and an apostate to ignoring him. *Sigh*.

[mike]

It looks as if Shaul Mofaz (Israeli Defense Minister) is right. He said last week, that Israel has no partner for peace. Even if Abbas wanted to fight terror, he is too weak. He can’t even control the militants in his own party. How is he going to stop Hamas?