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German Chancellor Angela Merkel
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| By israelinsider staff and partners April 4, 2007 |
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The Palestinian Authority wants German Chancellor Angela Merkel to adopt a position more sympathetic to the Arab side.
In order to shift her from her perceived pro-Israel position, high-ranking PA officials Monday employed the tried and tested technique of expressing outrage at the top of their voices, but doing so anonymously so that their unprecedented accusations against a European leader would not lead to a diplomatic crisis.
According to reports in the Israeli press, the PA leadership was incensed by Merkel's behavior during her visit to Ramallah, where she met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.
An unnamed official was quoted in The Jerusalem Post as saying she had done "everything to provoke the Palestinians [sic] during her visit."
Merkel had shown "no understanding for the plight of our people [but] appeared to be very biased toward Israel," he griped.
The list of complaints against Merkel was a long one.
She had reportedly inquired into the well-being of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, but refused to similarly demand that Israel tell her how incarcerated Palestinians were faring.
According to the official, Merkel focused on the importance of releasing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit and met with the families of missing IDF soldiers while in Jerusalem, but she refused to meet with families of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The official said that Merkel ignored a question about Palestinian prisoners during the press conference with Abbas and, according to The Jerusalem Post, said, "She appeared to be obsessed with the case of Gilad Schalit." He added that, "she refused to even acknowledge the fact that we have more than 10,000 prisoners in Israel."
"This woman is trying to be more Israeli than the Israelis," the official said. "During her talks with President Abbas, she totally ignored major issues related to the peace process and chose to focus on the case of Gilad Schalit.
She had denied the Palestinians the opportunity to teach her how bad Israel is by declining to take a tour of Bethlehem, where the PA wanted her to see, and denounce, the security barrier.
"We were hoping to show her the wall that Israel built around Bethlehem, but she refused to go there," another PA official said.
That had been a blow to PA chairman Mahmoud "Abbas [who] was hoping to draw parallels between Israel's wall and the Berlin Wall. He wanted to remind Merkel of the days when she lived in East Berlin."
Merkel had also stopped at Jerusalem's Hebrew University to receive an honorary doctorate, but had not acquiesced to Palestinian requests that she at the same time visit the Arab-occupied parts of Israel's capital to see how the Israel was "changing the Arab and Muslim character" of the city. Requests that she visit with pro-Palestinian church leaders were also turned down.
Hiding behind their stipulation that they not be identified, the "unnamed" officials sought to manipulate Merkel and her government.
"Germany will not be able to play any role in the peace process because of the chancellor's bias to Israel. Our people are obviously paying the price for the crimes that were perpetrated against the Jews during World War Two."
After the statements were released to the media, Abbas' political advisor Nimer Hamad stepped in smoothy to "categorically reject the derogatory remarks made against the German chancellor.
"We appreciate the ongoing support of Germany to the Palestinians and its efforts to reactivate the role of the Quartet and support for the Arab peace plan that was re-endorsed in Riyadh last week," he purred.
Stan Goodenough of Jerusalem Newswire contributed to this article. |
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