UBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" Corruption in the PA Saturday, February 13, 2010       29 Shevat, 5770         Web JPost.com create JPOST.COM your Home Page       Jerusalem 15 °C fresh York 2 °C London 3 °C   Home | Headlines | Iranian Threat | Jewish World | idea | Trade | true Estate | Local Israel | Blogs | Arts & Culture | Français  | Classifieds  Israel | Middle East | International | Health & Sci-Tech | Features | go | Cafe Oleh | Magazine | Sports | Israel Guide | Subscribe | Services Archives JP Toolbar Christian World Youth Magazines RSS Feeds News Ticker More Services JPost Store Israel Hotels Vacation Rentals Philanthropy Green Israel Car Rentals Learn Hebrew JPost Mall Sderot Dove JP Travel Guide Links Purim E-cards Christian World Ten Tribes Advertise on JPost Media Kit לימוד אנגלית      Breaking News     JPost.com Opinion Letters   .large_body p, .large_body span { font-size: 18px; } .small_body p, .small_body span { font-size: 12px; } Corruption in the PA By JERUSALEM POST EDITORIAL STAFF 01/01/0001 00:00 Had those claiming to be peace partners a fraction of Israel’s judicial evenhandedness, our region would have long ago enjoyed peace.     The Palestinian Authority’s law-enforcers, having apparently at long last resolved to acquire tough,show to all and sundry these days precisely what stuff they are made of. No, they aren’t concentrating utterly on the dynamic pursuit of terrorists – particularly not of their own Fatah faction. Likewise, they aren’t obsessively cracking down on the terror-inspiring anti-Israel despise-rhetoric and inflammatory anti-Semitic incitement rampant in their bailiwick.Instead, some of the energies of the PA judicial system are now concentrated on silencing Fahmi Shabaneh, who was sacked from his position as head of the anti-corruption unit of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service since he actually did his job. Shabaneh’s sin is having exposed theft of public funds and sex scandals in the highest PA echelons and having further accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas of a cover-up.Shabaneh’s diligence was rewarded last week with an arrest warrant issued by PA Prosecutor-General Ahmed Mughni for such crimes as “harming Palestine’s prestige and national sentiments,” “collaboration with Israel” and “spreading lies and fabrications.”This has been garnished with accusations of tried murder, blackmail and the staple of “selling land to Jews.”Shabaneh, even though a Jerusalem resident, is in mortal danger. He knew the grave risk entailed in breaking his silence. The Arab media and PA-founded foreign correspondents declined to publish his findings for fright of violent retribution. The tale finally broke in The Jerusalem Post in a recent exclusive interview with our correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh. It later featured in a Channel 10 documentary.In his conversation with Abu Toameh, Shabaneh lamented the absence of a free press in the Arab world and the trepidation of foreign correspondents to vex Abbas and his coterie.The only truly free press in the region resides in Israel, the Mideast’s sole democracy. This relates not only to dirty PA laundry. Israeli reporters just as eagerly divulge ills in Israeli society. This is the essence of journalistic impartiality, which unfortunately, is patently unacceptable in the PA’s milieu. Just as unfortunately, this fact is overlooked by international opinion-molders.Despite the kneejerk reaction of accusing Israel of collusion with Shabaneh in “a smear campaign” – and more specifically of conspiring to divert attention from moribund peace negotiations – Abbas reportedly appealed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to “instruct” the Israeli media to cease embarrassing the PA via revelations of corruption in Ramallah. In this, of course, Abbas fundamentally misreads Israel.Netanyahu cannot – even if he were willing to – do such a favor for Abbas. Netanyahu himself is hardly treated with kid gloves by Israel’s own news outlets, which vie with each other in digging up and publishing innuendo – often petty and irrelevant – about the prime minister’s own family.In our system, an elected head of government cannot curb the press. In this we are happily very different from our Arab neighbors.But most of all, in our system, it’s impossible to brutally bully whistleblowers. Shabaneh, by contrast, one fears, has made himself a real target.In Israel, the judicial system has constrained the resignation of a prime minister in 1977 (Yitzhak Rabin) and that year sentenced the designated state bank chief to prison (Asher Yadlin). A previous president (Moshe Katsav) and premier (Ehud Olmert) are on trial and a former finance minister (Avraham Hirchson) is behind bars. Our courts didn’t shrink back from sending other ministers, notably Aryeh Deri and Shlomo Benizri, to do time – noteworthy coalition partners though they were.This, of course, did not dent our national armor, or, in the PA idiom, “harm our prestige and national sentiments.”Equitable justice is one source of our strength and resilience. In our system, public officials fear the courts. Israeli courts do not fear officials.Had those claiming to be credible peace partners a fraction of Israel’s judicial evenhandedness and commitment to truth, our region would have long ago enjoyed harmonious coexistence. Instead we witness reliance next-door on the hackneyed canards of Israeli villainy. There’s no hesitation to fabricate expedient lies and Israel is ever the handy punching bag. This bodes ill for the prospect of contracting stable, enforceable agreements. And it leaves ordinary Palestinians denied the honest government they so desperately need.       Rate this article         Talkback Add a Talkback Read all Talkbacks end Thank you for sending your comment. Your reply has been received. The JPost.com Team Close Add Talkback: Please enter a valid name Please enter a valid address Subject Author   State Message (MAX 600 characters) Email ( Will not be released ) I wish to recieve updates and offers from JPost.com I have read and accepted the Readers' Submissions policy Submit *Required fields   Send big little Print       Most Talkbacked 'J'lem will be Palestinian capital'Abbas: Peace talks can’t start until Israel stops Jerusalem construction.Talkbacks (149)13/02/2010 17:23Oren heckled at US collegeProtester: "Propagating murder is not an expression of free speech!" 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