Jan 12, 2015

The participation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in France's mega unity demonstration in Paris on Jan. 11 was apparently not of his own making.

A day earlier, the Secretariat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had announced plans to hold a rally in support of France in Manara Square in Ramallah at noon the following day. The Israeli press has since made it clear that Abbas’ participation in Paris came about to counter the presence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted on attending despite opposition from Paris. Netanyahu, who initially indicated he would not be going, citing security reasons, quickly reversed his decision after his electoral opponents Avigdor Liberman and Naftali Bennett decided to attend. The French are said to have told the Israeli leader that if he came, they would invite the Palestinian president.

Much of this background was unknown to most Palestinians, who were divided upon seeing their president march in Paris alongside world leaders, including Netanyahu. Opposition to Abbas’ Paris visit arose initially from hard-line Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, who called it “hypocrisy and political acrobatics.”

Social media was full of posts from individuals comparing Abbas’ Paris trip to his “non-visit” to Gaza since the end of the 2014 Israeli war, which resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians, including 17 journalists. This sentiment was echoed by Fadi Elsalameen, adjunct senior fellow at the American Security Project and a Palestinian activist in the United States. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Elsalameen echoed many in stating, “I wish he [Abbas] showed the same support for his people locally. He banned solidarity demonstrations with Gaza and has no shame in showing up in Paris.”

Ali Abunimah, another US-based Palestinian activist, used his popular social media account to criticize the Palestinian leader for his record against freedom of expression in Palestine. “Free Speech Champion Maréchal Mahmoud Abbas Pétain routinely arrests Palestinians for criticizing him [on] Facebook.” Abunimah cited the absence from Gaza of another participant in Paris, King Abdullah of Jordan. “Jordan's King & Queen went to Paris, but not Gaza. This must mean Jordan thinks what happened in Paris is far worse than bloodbath in Gaza.”