Senior officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization and some prominent Palestinians in the West Bank seem convinced that the coup in the Soviet Union that deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev will advance their cause.
At the very least, they expect it to staunch the flow of Soviet Jewish aliyah and restore Moscow to its former position as the main backer of Arab aspirations.
Statements to that effect were made by Yasser Abed Rabo, a close associate of PLO chief Yasir Arafat, and Taisir Kube of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Hatem Abdul Kader, an editor of the East Jerusalem daily Al-Fajr who is considered to be a key activist in the PLO’s Al Fatah wing, told Israeli reporters that Palestinians were familiar with the new Soviet leadership and expected it to act in their interests.
An Al-Fajr editorial ridiculing the United States maintained that the collapse of perestroika means the end of the “new world order” President Bush proclaimed after the Persian Gulf War.
The editorial urged the new regime in Moscow to help the Third World fight American global influence.
Ghassan al-Khatib, a lecturer at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank and a leading Communist activist, declared: “We the Palestinians hope that the change in the Soviet Union will push the peace process in the direction of international legitimacy.”
An opinion poll conducted by the weekly Al-Baider a-Siassi, found most Palestinians welcoming the change in Moscow.
ANGER ON THE ISRAELI LEFT
That attitude drew angry reactions from Israelis, including some on the left usually sympathetic toward the Arabs.
Professor Amnon Rubinstein, a leader of the Center-Shinui Movement, said he was disappointed and angry over the Palestinian reaction. They have proved again that they have not learned their lesson from history, Rubinstein said.
He referred apparently to Palestinian support for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and their glee when Scud missiles fell on Israel –both of which alienated their sympathizers on the Israeli left.
A more moderate Palestinian viewpoint was expressed Tuesday by Dr. Hanan Ashrawi immediately following her return from a series of meetings in Europe. She expressed regret over the regression from democracy in the Soviet Union.
Ashrawi returned with East Jerusalem activist Faisal Husseini amid clamor from the Israeli right wing to put them on trial for alleged meetings with PLO officials in Europe.
Police announced that the two would soon be summoned for questioning.
Ashrawi and Husseini were among the Palestinians who met with U.S. Secretary of State James Baker during his series of visits to Israel in May and June. They won the U.S. administration’s de facto recognition as the legitimate representatives of the local Palestinian community.
Their European tour was seen here as an attempt to introduce the Palestinian view abroad and to coordinate positions with the PLO.
Syria, meanwhile, has expressed concern that the Soviet coup would give Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir a pretext to back out of the Middle East peace conference.
Radio Damascus said Tuesday that the Israeli government was working to sabotage the conference scheduled for October.
Paradoxically, many Israelis were saying the change in Soviet leadership would give Syria an excuse to back out of the peace conference.
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