A dramatic re-enactment of the Al Husseini love scene.
Long after sex tapes made by Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Screech more famous, the Palestinian Authority finally has one.
Rafik Al Husseini, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was shown in the buck in a secret sex tape broadcast on Israeli TV. Unlike these sex tapes, which are made by the celebrities themselves, this one was made by an intelligence agency, or perhaps agencies. And this sex tape was kind of lame because Husseini was apparently seeking sex from a job applicant. That’s not really slick, at all.
Maan News called for his resignation, as others have.
The official story is that a Palestinian whistleblower, Fahmi Shabaneh, who was the head of the anti-corruption unit in the Palestinian Authority, was behind the tape. In addition to the sex tape, he leaked evidence of millions and millions of dollars transferred from government bank accounts to private ones.
The PA is corrupt? What!!! Corruption is what keps the engine of the occupation going, duh! How else can you have an occupied people believe they can negotiate with a stronger, more powerful occupying force that is actively colonizing their land, with their sole patron state and bill-footer, the United States, as the peace mediator? It is corruption BY DESIGN. A non-corrupt PA is a true liberation movement, and the powers that be, including the Palestinian elite, do not want that.
A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, Tayeb abdel Rahim,told reporters that Shabaneh’s allegations are, “lies and unreal stories made by a former low ranking Palestinian officer.” He said, “this officer was fired more than 2 years ago and he is a collaborator with the Israeli government.” While that may be partially true, or true in some way, the PA itself collaborates with Israel. And, dude, there is a freaking video of the man using his position to solicit sexual favors! What a farce.
Habaneh, denies the allegation. Of cours, he did. We all know how disgusting and pathetic collaborating with the Israelis is. Given how hypocritical the allegations are and how obviously they are trying to distract attention from the actual undeniable content of the video, I may just believe him.
I think it’s telling that the video is running on Israeli TV:
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://publish.vidavee.com/publish/trh/embedAsset.js?width=500.0&height=375.0&d=88C2339F6F398E01B256255EF89ADF97&”></script>
Israelis love to record just about every aspect of Palestinian lives, making them a militarized version of TMZ. Instead of merely intruding in the personal lives and politics of people who just happen to be well-known and overpaid to dance in front of cameras, Israeli intelligence occasionally assassinates, imprisons and tortures Palestinians.
Is there anything more obvious than Israeli intervention into Palestinian politics?
And if you two-state utopian dreamers out there think Israeli intelligence will retreat back behind the green-line and not blackmail and bribe every Palestinian politician of any secular dispositions there, you are CRAZY. That means the only way to have any truly independent Palestine based on the WB and Gaza is to have an incorruptible semi-fascist dictatorship, probably of the Hamas variety. Or we could aim for a truly secular, though multi-sectarian goal of a one-state solution, where Jewish, Christian and Muslim politicians can joyfully make their own sex tapes free of political manipulation.
In the mean-time, Husseini will be on Palestinian TV to try to save his political career. PA officials are supporting him for now, and sticking to the talking points. They probably think this Shabaneh-Israel connection can somehow show they are not corrupt. This is politically naive. Hussieni should grow up and do what an American politician would do: apologize. And the PA elite should privately make him retire to spend more time with his family.
Related posts:
- Israel’s Corruption
- Video: Hip-Hop in Palestine
- New Yorker Apologizes to Israel for Taking Umayyad Antiquity from Occupied Jerusalem (!)
- They Teach Their Children Hate
- 9 Hours Later: Youtube 0, Jordan Times 1
2-state utopian dreamers are a little more pragmatic than the bi-national state supporters who are kidding themselves.
Posted by Lena | February 12, 2010, 4:05 pmAssuming you are right on this point, it still does not make the two-state solution pragmatic, just "a little more" so..
No one would say that pursuing a plan that will only result in further subjugation and non-independence for 20 years because everyone says it is "realistic" is really pragmatic. It is just that people fail to see that this is what's going on.
Pragmatism is not merely taking the path of least resistance, it is doing what is both practical AND a fulfillment of goals somewhat conditioned on that practicability. The two-state charade is yet to prove practical, or even a possible fulfillment of its own stated goals — independence. There is no way Israel will let a Palestinian state be functionally or usefully sovereign. That is pipe-smoking.
I happen to think changing our political goals to one based on a stronger argument and integrationism within the CURRENT political structure rather than separatism based on some FUTURE POSSIBLE political arrangement is more pragmatic. In fact, we could learn a lot from the anti-apartheid movement South Africa to learn the real differences between pragmatism and political fantasy. We need an ANC-like politics, where we have now a bourgeois-nationalist version of the All-Africa People's party, which is why we have political stasis and are merely in a waiting room of liberation. It has failed.
We could learn a little from Albert Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Posted by KABOBfestWill | February 14, 2010, 2:15 amI don't get it. Why would Palestinian politicians in the one state be less susceptible to corruption than in the two state solution? Corrupt is corrupt.
Also, your Islamic skirt is showing. Why would you believe that Islamists are less likely to be corrupt than secular Palestinians especially since you are a secular Palestinian? Do you know something we don't?
Posted by jjj | February 12, 2010, 4:57 pmYou have to be more specific about corruption. To say that a political system is corrupt is not merely to say that there are officials bending rules. It's to say that the system, and the people within it, act for reasons other than those publicly stated. It means that looking at the formal institutional mechanisms and public pronouncements does not actually explain what is going on. It means the system is fake and that the people acting within it are props for something else.
Will is saying that this is corruption "BY DESIGN." That means to call it "corruption," as if corruption is exceptional, is to miss the point about the purpose that this system and its hospitality for corruption serves: to stilt liberation movements/serve Israeli occupation interests. Israel likes Palestinian partners it can control or blackmail. That is a historical fact. Under a one state system, politicians and people would not be of a purer variety, but presumably the system would have these mysterious players to it. Of course, this is a really optimistic take on governance, seeing as I think we have the same problems in the American context. And I am not talking about affairs and bribes, I am talking about the fact that every word a politician says is a fucking lie and does not explain the strategy for their actions.
Posted by yaman | February 13, 2010, 7:45 amW0W… What a SHOCK to find this place WTF isit…… Jews & Arabs on drugs commenting..??
CORRUPT..?? What about delusional..?????????? Where can I get some of the stuff U-are smokin..??
Posted by MvGuy | February 12, 2010, 5:34 pmI need a scorecard, What is a Bi-National State and how is it different from a two state entity where one entity [of the two] controls the borders and foreign policy of the other state entity..?? HUH..??
Posted by MvGuy | February 12, 2010, 5:39 pmA former Palestinian intelligence official who secretly recorded the scene. That's right, it was recorded by a PALESTINIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER.
Even though the Palestinian Authority has won international praise for cleaning up official corruption that was rampant under the late Yasser Arafat, Abbas' Fatah movement continues to be dogged by the perception that some of its leading officials pursue personal gain and pleasure over the national good.
Funny how folks around this blog seems to praise and adore YASSER ARAFAT. He was a corrupt, evil man who stole from the Palestinian people.
Rafiq Husseini released a statement which was read on Palestinian television in which he claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy by Israelis and some Palestinians to discredit him and the Palestinian president. He said he would respond at a later time.
Palestinian officials also claimed the video was part of an Israeli attempt to discredit Abbas and denounced Fahmi Shabaneh, the former Palestinian intelligence officer at the center of the drama, as a collaborator with Israel.
Unbelievable! It's so ludicrous that it's comical… it's all Israel's fault! Now we know where Kabobfest gets its from!
Shabaneh said he began investigating Husseini after a woman complained that the chief of staff made suggestive remarks when she went to his office to ask for help with a family problem. Shabaneh said he set up cameras in the woman's apartment, with her permission, and filmed Husseini's next encounters with her.
In the video, Husseini is shown sitting on a couch in a living room, flanked by two women Shabaneh identifies as Husseini's secretary and the unidentified woman who sought his help.
During their conversation, Husseini is heard describing Abbas as aloof and lacking charisma and says Arafat surrounded himself with crooks. At some point, Husseini alludes to his own influence.
"Would you like a decree? Would you like me to issue a presidential decree for you?" he asks, though it's not clear to which of the two women the remark is addressed.
In a later scene, Husseini is shown undressing, alone, in a bedroom.
He gets into bed, plumps the pillows and calls out to the unseen woman to join him. "Do I turn off the light or do you? What is the procedure?" he is heard asking the woman.
Moments later, Shabaneh enters the room with three other men and identifies himself. Husseini jumps out of bed and gets dressed.
The official Palestinian media have not reported the details, but the video appeared on YouTube and quickly became a main topic of conversation across the Palestinian territories.
Posted by Admiral_Akbar | February 12, 2010, 10:09 pmIsraelis love to record just about every aspect of Palestinian lives, making them a militarized version of TMZ.
HAHAHAHA!!!!! It was recorded by a Palestinian! Yes, the video was broadcast by Israel's Channel 10 TV in a report that also included allegations of high-level financial wrongdoing.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
Posted by Admiral_Akbar | February 12, 2010, 10:19 pmHere is the link on youtube. if you understand Hebrew it is more shocking! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dac0nVgvvU&fe…
Posted by A Palestinian | February 13, 2010, 3:51 am"semi-fascist dictatorship, probably of the Hamas variety." Maybe you didn't know, but Hamas was ELECTED. And I am curious, how do you think a one-state solution is going to be achieved? By non-violent resistance which the zionist entity puts down with bullets and tear gas??? No, sorry to surprise you, but Hamas was ELECTED because they violently RESIST the zionist entity's agression, I don't know if you are insane or what saying that Hamas is "fascist" and a "dictatorship." Peace and justice for Palestinians will only be achieved by violent resistance, which is what Hamas DOES, and is why it was ELECTED by the Palestinian people, so please save me and your readers from bullshit which has no basis in reality. And would you support violent resistance if the group doing it was secular not religious (or christian not muslim)? If so you are a disgusting hypocrite who has no place talking about Palestine, or any other occupied and/or repressed people who are fighting against their occupier/repressor, no matter whether they are christian or muslim or jewish or people of color or white europeans.
Posted by RevSocialist | February 13, 2010, 4:36 amHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!
Posted by Admiral_Akbar | February 13, 2010, 6:31 amDid you start reading this blog yesterday? We criticize Hamas frequently. Sorry to ruin your capitalized amusement.
Posted by KABOBfestWill | February 14, 2010, 2:03 amSorry. I guess my amusement is not very well capitalized at all, in fact it may be close to bankruptcy. As my amusement is in need, can you see your way clear to provide some assistance?
Posted by Admiral_Akbar | February 14, 2010, 6:59 amSo were most fascist dictatorships. Croatia. Italy. Hungary. Germany. Being elected does not mean you're not fascist. Or not scum.
Posted by Ghoul Sahyouni | February 15, 2010, 8:24 pmSo the Palestinian government is corrupt by Israeli design. Wow, that sure is convenient, Will. What about the Syrian government, what about the PLO even back in the 80's, what about what goes on in Egypt? Surely not every instance of corruption can be tossed aside as a byproduct of occupation.
Maybe, just maybe, you would be better served by looking inwards for once. It might just be more productive than blindly shouting from the rooftops that every single problem within Palestinian society is the direct result of Israel. Only then, I suppose, you wouldn't have much to write about.
Posted by maloof | February 14, 2010, 12:27 amIsraeli and American design, of course. The PA only exists because of the Oslo accords. Israel and the United States literally designed the structural bases of the PA's formation. Duh. The political economy of the military occupation and limited semi-autonomy of the PA is all governed by Israel directly. Even a total moron would know that such a middle man pseudo-authority that must answer to Israel would be inherently corrupt, especially when the international community is willing to foot the bill. The clearest example of Israel's hand in corruption is its negation of the 2006 parliamentary elections, thereby only allowing single party rule.
How would writing inward not be much to write about? We do a lot of that here and it's an endless source of inspiration. The problem is that the overwhelming structural condition that all Palestinian politics cannot be divorced from is the fact of Al-Nakba and continuing Israeli occupation and colonialism. To ignore these makes any discussion of Palestinian politics non-sensical.
How does Syrian and Egyptian corruption explain PA corruption? I am not saying all the corruption in the region is caused by Israel.
You have a better point on PLO corruption; I attribute the current bankruptcy of Palestinian institutions to the facts of Israeli occupation and displacement but also the opportunism of scoundrels seeking to personally profit off a people's misery and desire for liberation. The same is true today. But there corruption is completely enabled by the political context, which Israel is a fundamental controlling and causal factor in.
Posted by KABOBfestWill | February 14, 2010, 2:02 amIsrael and the United States literally designed the structural bases of the PA's formation
The details of the creation of the Palestinian Authority were worked out in The Gaza-Jericho Agreement of 4 May 1994. The Palestine Central Council implemented the agreement on behalf of the Palestine National Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization in a meeting convened in Tunis from 10–11 October 1993. This made the Palestinian National Authority accountable to the PLO Executive Committee.
Back then, the Palestinians had trouble succeeding (as usual)…
Mediators tell Palestinians to reform or lose aid
…envoys from the United States, United Nations and European Union and Russia told Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie that the world had run out of patience with Arafat's "empty promises" of reform.
"Arafat has done nothing or very little … There is total disillusion with the Palestinian Authority," the diplomat said.
But he also faces growing calls for reform from within his own Fatah, a long-dominant nationalist movement whose decline has boosted the appeal of Islamic militant groups sworn to Israel's destruction.
Ahhh, might as well blame the failure on Israel and the U.S. Right? Might as well avoid any responsibility and blame others!
Posted by Admiral_Akbar | February 14, 2010, 7:24 amsurprising to see so many people rush to defense of the PA. i thought we got past that years ago.
Posted by MohammadKF | February 15, 2010, 11:42 amWhat's to defend? The PA failed. The trick is to make it anyone but the PA's fault that they failed.
Posted by Admiral_Akbar | February 16, 2010, 3:48 amAh, of course, your corruption is our fault. It's our fault that every single Arabic speaking government is corrupt (though, to give you the little bit of credit you deserve, some of the Persian Gulf principalities are almost decent. Almost.) It has nothing to do with the way Arabic nations treat honesty as weakness and punish it. It's us. All us.
Blame us for the PA's corruption when you can come up with an Arabic government that isn't a hideous cesspool of it. Which will happen right about on the day when an Arabic country starts upholding basic decency in its treatment of minorities, so I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by Ghoul Sahyouni | February 15, 2010, 8:22 pm