MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

Arafat successor al-Qaida sympathizer.
The new leader of the ruling Fatah movement is an al-Qaida sympathizer with close ties to such terrorist sponsors as Iran and Syria. Farouq Qaddumi is largely unknown to the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He hasn’t stepped foot in these areas for nearly 40 years. But Qaddumi represents powerful Middle East countries, including Iran and Syria, which regard him as a means to expand their foothold in the Palestinian Authority.

For the last 30 years Qaddumi has headed the Palestinian Liberation Organization Foreign Affairs Department. He has made it clear that he sees terrorism as a strategic option for Palestinians. Born in the West Bank of Jenin and a founding member of Fatah in 1957, Qaddumi, like his late boss, Yasser Arafat, has made a career of currying favor with Mideast despots.

“Resistance is the path to reach political settlement because we do not claim we are capable of defeating the Israeli army,” Qaddumi told Hezbollah television last week. “This policy was determined by the PLO when our brother the martyr, our brother the president, Abu Amar [Arafat], stood at the United Nations in 1974 and said: ‘I hold a gun in one hand and an olive branch in the other.’”

Already, Qaddumi has also called for a wave of attacks against Israel. He has sought to align himself with Iran and Syria as an alternative to the leadership of new PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. Qaddumi’s words have fallen on eager ears. Under Qaddumi’s leadership, the Fatah movement has launched an effort to spearhead the Palestinian war against Israel.

Palestinian sources said Fatah commanders have ordered their cadres to step up attacks against Israel following Arafat’s death. Fatah has acquired rockets, mortars and other weaponry to attack Israeli military and civilian targets in the Gaza Strip.