But two hatted and two-faced Abbas must remain - because as Whitbeck explains:
While the Palestine Liberation Organisation will continue to represent all Palestinians everywhere, those Palestinians who live in the State of Palestine (whose territory is defined by the November 29 General Assembly Resolution as "the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967") or who, living elsewhere, will be the proud holders of new State of Palestine passports will now also be represented by the State of Palestine.
The fact that Hamas is not a member of the PLO and that its constituency running into millions is engaged in an internecine struggle with the PLO seems to have escaped Whitbeck's notice.
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Whitbeck must have been reading the wrong wire services to draw the following conclusions:
Perhaps due, at least in part, to the low-key manner in which this change has been effected, it has attracted remarkably little attention from the international media or reaction from other governments, even the Israeli and American governments. This is not necessarily disappointing, since passive acceptance is clearly preferable to furious rejection. The relatively few and brief media reports of the change have tended to characterise it as "symbolic". It could - and should - be much more than that. If the Palestinian leadership plays its cards wisely, it could - and should - represent a turning point toward a better future.
He obviously has missed the many articles critical of Abbas being forced to tip toe through the minefield that his unilateral actions have created.
More repercussions are yet to come as a disappointed international community comes to appreciate how this Trojan horse has pulled the wool over their collective eyes.
Certainly passive acceptance - instead of furious rejection - of Israel's demands that any Palestinian Arab State be demilitarised and that Israel be recognised as the Jewish State - would have helped the two-state solution possibly come to fruition.
The reasons for such furious rejection by the Trojan horse have now been revealed.
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The Trojan Horse fooled everyone. The negotiations were only a cover to grab what the PLO could get on the way to claiming their ultimate prize - the elimination of the state of Israel.
Whitbeck repeats the mantra of self delusion expressed by the PLO leadership:
The State of Palestine now exists on the soil of Palestine - albeit still, in varying degrees and circumstances, under belligerent occupation by the State of Israel.
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