Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The Palestinian upper bourgeoisie

This is a sinister story of the Palestinian upper bourgeoisie. Their story has to be told: how people like Hasib Sabbagh, Basil `Aql, Munib Masri, Shuman, Sa`id Khuri among others were instrumental in propping up the leadership of Yasir `Arafat when his role was in dispute within the leadership of Fath in the late 1960s. They also steered the Fath movement in the direction of Saudi Arabia, and pushed Arafat to do his best to appease every US administration. They also were the ones who played a mediating role between Fath and the Phalanges during the civil war, when a boycott of the Phalanges was ostensibly observed by the Lebanese National Movement and the PLO. (There were individual Palestinian capitalists who invested in the left but I won't name them here because it may be bad for their businesses). "Mr. Sabbagh was also a member of the Palestine National Council and a donor to the Carter Center, founded in 1982 by former President Jimmy Carter." Spending money on the Carter Center? For what? To reward him for Camp David?