Feeding the rumour mill

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was quoted on Thursday as saying he had planned to come up with a surprise during his annual speech at the UN General Assembly.

“I will drop a bombshell at the end of my speech, but I am not going to reveal now the nature of this bombshell,” Abbas told recently the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper.

Speculation about the fact that the Palestinian leader wants to announce his resignation from his post, cancel the Oslo Accords with Israel, or both is rife.

It has been rumoured that Abbas wants to retire from politics because of frustration with Israel’s policy regarding talks with the Palestinians or because of his advanced age.

Some Palestinian political analysts, however, believe that instead of threatening to resign, Abbas should concentrate on “reorganising the Palestinian house”, on trying to put Palestinian affairs in order.

All Abbas’ spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudaina had to say about these speculations was that the speech of the Palestinian president will be “historic”.

The fact that Abbas revealed that he will drop a “bombshell” of sorts at the UN takes the sting from any threat and removes the element of surprise.

If he were to indeed cancel the Oslo Accords, that would really take no one by surprise, since Israel never honoured the agreement anyway.

If Abbas does resign, this would create a vacuum in Palestinian politics, but open the door for others wishing to fill the post.

Of course, if Abbas decides to leave his post, the Palestinian Authority may face a long period of political instability that the Palestinian people can ill afford.

A true “bombshell” would be Abbas’ taking the UN to task for abetting Israel’s repeated snubbing of its resolutions.

Beyond that, little much would surprise those who are churning the rumour mill.