Welcome to the
state of independence

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dollars in foreign aid, much of it went
to terrorism and corruption, leaving
the authority with a meager $19 mil-
lion in its bank accounts and needs
that exceed $135 million, according
to Fayyad.
The hope is that in a stable post-
election era, international donors will
again open their wallets.
Another major challenge is wide-
spread corruption in the civil service.
For the past eight years, various
reports have shown that senior P.A.
figures have stolen millions of dollars
in public funds.
Al-Juabi of Birzeit University said
Abbas needs to grant the judicial sys-
tem greater powers and freedom from
external pressure to allow a strong
hand against corruption and stabilize
the rule of law.
Most analysts predict that given the
complexity of the challenges he faces,

Abbas can't win on all fronts.
It's expected that he will prefer to
stabilize the internal Palestinian situa-
tion, even at the cost of postponing
possible progress in negotiations with
Israel.
Abbas' next electoral challenge will
be parliamentary elections scheduled
for June. By then, he must be strong
enough to make sure that the Hamas
opposition is contained.
Will the gray leader meet the chal-
lenge? On the face of it, chances are
slim — but precedent gives reason for
optimism.
When Anwar Sadat took over as
Egyptian president after the death of
the flamboyant Gamal Abdel Nasser,
he also was described as a weak-
successor — but eventually emerged
from Nasser's shadow to become one
of the legendary leaders of the
Arab world. ❑

State of Israel is illegal, it
makes it difficult to
incorporate them into a
democratic process unless
they renounce that part
of their platform.
"He has his work cut
out for him, but promise
exists," Silverman said.
"It would be totally pes-
simistic to suggest that
the Palestinians in the
aggregate share the
Hamas view of Israel.
When most Palestinians gripe about
Israel it's because of the perceived
interference with their daily lives. A
democratic P.A. with legitimacy and
the ability to make agreements with
Israel and have them hold -- that's
the best hope for Palestinians to be
able to live what we would call more
normal lives."
Jerome Kaufman, Zionist
Organization of America national
secretary, said, "We have to view it

with some hope, but a lot
of skepticism."
'Abbas was Arafat's No.
2 man in the Fatah organ-
ization for the last 40
years and said he would
not attack Hamas in any
way," said Kaufman, a
Bloomfield Hills resident.
"He's not about to shed
Palestinian blood for
Israelis.
"Israel has given plenty
of sacrifices for peace,"
he continued. "I don't think the
world legitimately should expect
Israel to give any more sacrifices for
a so-called peace that's never hap-
pened.
"Let's hope for the best, but there's
no reason for us to be optimistic,
nor is there any reason for Ariel
Sharon to make any more gestures of
peace," Kaufman said. "He's made
plenty of them and it's cost Israel
plenty of lives." ❑

Emanuel Leads Dems

Congressional Campaign Committee.
Emanuel, a major fund-raiser for
former President Bill Clinton, is the
third Jewish representative in a
decade to hold the post. Rep.
Martin Frost, D-Texas, ran the cam-
paign from 1996 to 2000 and Rep.
Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., ran it from
2000 to 2002.

Washington/JTA — Democrats

appointed a Jewish congressman to
run their 2006 House elections. Rep.
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the U.S.
House of Representatives minority
leader, appointed Rahm Emanuel,
D-Ill., on Sunday to the chairman-
ship of the Democratic

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