Word: martyrized
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...More importantly, Abbas ran as the consensus candidate of a Fatah movement whose membership ranges from aging diplomatically-inclined men like Abbas to the militants of the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, which continued to launch attacks on Israeli targets even as it campaigned for a leader who dismisses such attacks as futile and counter-productive...
...they being na?1/2ve. Like much of the Palestinian electorate, they simply see him as an "acceptable" if uninspiring choice, one who represents the only chance at this stage of restoring a peace process, and one whom, once elected, will owe a substantial political debt to the Martyr's Brigade and the broader militant Fatah rank and file of which they form part. That's because it was the militants who cajoled the imprisoned popular Fatah militant Marwan Barghouti into withdrawing from the race and throwing his support behind Abbas. Barghouti may well have beaten Abbas in a head...
...More significant, however, is the steady torrent of rebukes directed at Barghouti from within the ranks of his natural base, the militant grassroots of Fatah who serve as the shock troops of the current intifadah via the al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade and other militia. They have been even more urgent and insistent in demanding that Barghouti drop out of the race in the name of the unity emphasized by all Palestinian factions in the wake of Yasser Arafat's passing. "We are against the candidacy of Marwan because it is contrary to the decision of the central committee...
...This, of course, is a tradition of national liberation movements the world over, particularly in moments before they've achieved power. But it's not hard to see that if Abbas's election depends on the active support of the Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade, then - like Arafat - his room for maneuver and compromise will be severely limited...
...someone who has pledged to die a martyr, Yasser Arafat resists intimations of mortality. A year ago, his doctors told TIME that Arafat might have stomach cancer, but the Palestinian leader refused to leave his besieged compound in Ramallah to seek treatment; if he did, Arafat feared, the Israelis might block him from returning. In recent weeks, as his health deteriorated, Arafat's official spokesmen said it was nothing serious. By early last week, Arafat couldn't keep food down; even the cornflakes he ate on Thursday morning had to be pureed. He was unable to move his legs fully...