Economic exploitation of Palestinians

"But since then Abbas and Fayyad have been forced to co-habit unhappily. Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official whose party was badly defeated in the 2006 election, remains in post at the insistence of Israel, the United States and its European vassals - who fund the PA and oversee training of its repressive security apparatus.  Recent calls by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for Abbas to be replaced would undoubtedly have added to nervousness in Abbas' entourage that the PA's American and Israeli sponsors might try to oust Abbas and put Fayyad in his place. Abbas cannot have forgotten that the post of prime minister was created a decade ago specifically for Abbas so he could disempower and eventually replace Yasser Arafat.  This week it looked as though Abbas loyalists were making a move against Fayyad, perhaps in order to pressure international donors to rescue the financially insolvent PA or to signal that Abbas' men, not Fayyad, hold sway on the ground.  But even if that were the case it would be a dangerous gamble. Other protests did turn against Abbas and the Palestinian Authority regime in general, and in Ramallah dozens of PA intelligence operatives shadowed demonstrators and harassed people in the streets whom they suspected of subversive intentions. If Abbas or his loyalists were behind any part of the protests, they risk unleashing a process they cannot control.  Against this background, both Abbas and Fayyad have been outbidding each other in their efforts to prove their loyalty and usefulness to the occupation regime and its US backers." (thanks Electronic Ali)