Perhaps another explanation: a place in "History"

Submitted by Jon, from London (France), Sep 26, 2011 at 06:58

The explanations for Mr. Abbas' decisions are probably correct, but perhaps his likely retirement is also to be included in the package; As of last month his actual accomplishments had been pretty minimal, with only a recent boost to the economy under the Prime Minister he appointed being a positive.

He "lost" Gaza, he is viewed as ineffectual, he didn't do to well militarily, and has looked very much the inferior to Netanyahu.

If he retires without doing any "event" his place in history as a poor leader is garanteed, and this must also be somewhat troubling for his family's future, as there might be a new leader maximo who might like to claw back what funds he probably "privatised" during his term in office.

By doing something memorable, even if not particularly useful (on a worst case scenario for the Palestinians), he goes into the texts as a "transformational" figure, with his name to something. He "street cred" is good, his assets are secure, and he leaves a hard (instead of an easy) act to follow...

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