Abbas' Move Reflects Deep Palestinian Despair

By saying he wants to step down as president, Mahmoud Abbas has highlighted a deep Palestinian despair rooted in decades of failed peace initiatives and fruitless violence.

The weapon of an Israeli soldier is seen in front of Palestinian demonstrators during a protest...

The weapon of an Israeli soldier is seen in front of Palestinian demonstrators during a protest against Israel's controversial separation barrier in the village of Maasarah near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he does not want to run for another term in the January elections, blaming a stalemate in Mideast peace talks on Israel and the United States. Facing a hawkish Israeli government and an Obama administration reluctant to put muscle behind its demands on Israel, many Palestinians say they see no hope at all. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

(AP)

Neither strategy has yielded a Palestinian state, and Israeli settlements still encroach on lands that would make up their would-be nation.

Facing a hawkish Israeli government and an Obama administration reluctant to put muscle behind its demands on Israel, many Palestinians say they see no hope at all.

"I am frustrated with so-called peace and the so-called 'two-state solution,'" said Rami Hassouna, a 34-year-old construction contractor in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "If all of this was one percent possible before, now I think it's impossible."

Moderate Palestinians are worried that Abbas, in saying he doesn't want another term in office, will only deepen frustrations and boost the militants who claim violence is the only option.

Some top Israelis also urged him to reconsider, but the widespread feeling on their side is that they offered Abbas sweeping concessions and got no response.

While Israel in recent months has eased restrictions on movement in Palestinian areas and the West Bank has enjoyed a limited economic recovery, the political stalemate is raising the specter of new violence.

"I think that this position of President Abbas is ringing the alarm that things have been deteriorating in Palestine and in Palestinian-Israeli relations," said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib.

On the day after Abbas' Thursday speech, Palestinians debated whether their president was serious about not running in Jan. 24 elections, or was just trying to shake things up. It's also far from clear whether the vote can be held at all, given that 1.5 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, a territory now ruled by Hamas militants who do not recognize Abbas' authority.

But the mere threat to step down has heightened Palestinians fear that their dream of independence is slipping away.