What is he thinking?

In the late 1960s the Arab American community was trying to organize a political action group to lobby congress and counter the effects of AIPAC. One of the leaders of the group, who quickly discovered that he and the others knew nothing about lobbying congress, actually had the chutzpah to go to the head of AIPAC and offer him the “job” of training his lobby.

His offer: “Hey, how would you like to earn a little money on the side?”

The reply was that he did his job out of sincere belief in his cause, and not for an extra buck.

Why is Mahmaud Abbas trying to declare a State? Given the perpetual bankruptcy of the Palestinian Authority, he is in no position to make this proposal.

Sheer Chutzpah.

The Americans are begging him to stop this. The Europeans are telling him to wait. His own partenrs, Hamas, refuse to recognize what 150 nations of the world plan on voting for this week. Jordan reportedly is screaming at this guy to give it a rest.

What on earth is he scheming?

A unilateral declaration of a state is a direct violation of the Oslo accords. It renders this treaty toilet paper, it guarantees war with Israel. If any of Abbas’ followers are crazy enough to march on the Jewish communities flowering Judea and Shomron, or take one step near Jerusalem —  It ensures war and chaos.

Has he lost it?

Every nation around him is worse off. Egypt has fallen off the cliff. Syria is in free fall. Jordan is on the edge. Inflaming the situation just ignites an already volatile powder keg engulfing both Israelis and Palestinians. This unilateral move by one man, who has the authority to on represent half his nation, and doesn’t even command this much, stands to throw the lives of ten million men, women, and children upside down.

Every major power, European, Western, and even Arab are begging him to stop?

What’s his game?

Abbas, like Arafat before him was never about the general welfare of his people. Don’t kid yourself. Palestinian suffering is nothing more than a cash cow to the leaders. Millions of Arabs suffered poverty since 1993 while Yasser Arafat’s wife still lives on an entire floor of a five star hotel in Paris, collecting $20 million a year for caviar.

The swankiest city in Israel is not Tel Aviv or Savion. It’s Ramallah, home to the two hundred Palestinian government big wigs who have all become billionaires off of European and UN aid.

Their only job is to make sure there are enough desolate residents in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nablus so the cameras will roll there for the Human Rights posters.

Abbas can be bought for the right price. So can the rest of his Wahhabi Wiseguys.

In fact. That’s exactly what happened. At the last possible moment, when the Americans probably made the best possible deal they could put on the table – Abbas relented. He just announced that instead of gunning for “semi-state” status, something that can be approved by the General Assembly without problems – he will go for it all.

Abbas will propose full Palestinian Statehood before the Security Council. This guarantees Abbas will look like an Arab hero. It also guarantees the measure will die from the pen of an American veto. Abbas looks good, America looks bad, and the Arab world has somewhere other than it’s local capital cities to vent their collective anger.

How much did America pay Abbas to finally go this route?

Probably a very hefty sum.

Could this be what all of this UN Statehood mishugas was all about in the first place?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

What if the PLO leader is doing this to protect the one and only suffering Palestinian he cares about: Mahmaud Abbas.

What if the Arab Spring has arrived in the West Bank, the public hasn’t been notified, and Abbas knows that at any moment his head could be attached to a stick?

Media coverage of the Arab Spring has been a little, how should I put this: quirky.

For six months all I saw of the Libyan revolution was the same three guys dressed in civilian clothes with no body armor get into the same Oldsmobile and travel into the dessert to fight Qadaffi.

How the heck did these guys win?

Qadaffi had an organized army, an air force, weapons of mass destruction, an intelligence apparatus that was monitoring every move the rebels made, and over $30 billion to buy as much supplies, ammo, and mercenaries he needed.

How the heck did the three guys in the Oldsmobile win?

Obviously the media didn’t show us everything. I never saw an actual battle being waged. From the whole fight for Tripoli, all we saw was the dancing in Green Square.

There is a lot going on in the Arab world that we are not seeing. I am sure certain interests in the Arab World and the West want it that way as well. We know that there are civilian protests in Syria, but we hear nothing of an army being organized to bring him down. How can the “experts” on TV “predict that Assad will be gone in months? We never hear a peep out of Jordan but some expert comes out of nowhere to warn us that the Hashemite kingdom is holding on by a thread. Who is threatening it? How? With what means?

If Hamas is fueling the tension among the everyday Palestinians to target Abbas as the next Mubarak-Qadaffi-Assad we CNN watchers may be the last to know.

What if Abbas is doing all of this just to protect his job?

What if he is doing nothing more than deflecting Palestininan anger away from him? Even worse, what if this opportunist sees the political situation as the most opportune time to shake down the Americans for money? Or the Israelis? or the whole “aid donating” world? The Palestinians receive more world aid than any nation on earth. Their government operates like a bunch of moochers – why do for yourself what others can do for you? Could this just be their chance to extend their hand out even more?

How despicable!

Dovber Halevi is the author of Sex, Religion, and the Middle East: Your Personal Guide to Something Better. For more, see the video clip below.