Palestinians Divided on Impact of Iraqi Move : Occupied areas: Some Arabs feel the invasion diverts attention from their uprising.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait has caused sharply mixed emotions among Palestinians in the occupied territories, as well as divisions of opinion over whether President Saddam Hussein’s lightning strike last week will further or hinder the cause of Palestinian independence.

Some Palestinian leaders feel squeezed by the Iraqi move because it diverts attention from the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and it backs up Israeli warnings against creating a Palestinian state.

But Palestinians are united in criticizing the United States’ call for an economic embargo against Iraq, which they see as hypocritical.

Doud Kuttab, a prominent Palestinian commentator in East Jerusalem, put it this way: “In four days, President Bush has gained worldwide support against the Iraqi invasion. But 23 years have elapsed since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and Israel still counts on economic and moral support from the West.”

According to Kuttab, the Palestinian masses strongly support Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein, who is widely known by his first name in the Middle East.

“The gut feeling on the street,” he said, “is mostly favorable to the invasion. People had little hope that Kuwait’s Sabah family would really help liberate the Palestinians. To them, Saddam is an Arab patriot--and a strong one--willing to use oil as a political weapon.

“At the same time,” he said, “intellectuals have mixed feelings: Some worry that the invasion will only direct attention away from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and will justify Israel’s procrastination in dealing with the issue.”

Saeb Erakat, a professor of political science at An Najah University in Nablus, said he believes that ordinary Palestinians have been stirred by the sense of change generated by the Iraqi president.

“People are happy that Saddam has shaken up the Arab world,” Erakat said. “The feeling is that Israel cannot be forced into a peace process unless it is deterred by political changes in the Arab world.”

The Iraqi invasion comes as the 2 1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising appears to be running out of steam, and with the peace process on hold, according to Kuttab, “people think this may get the Palestinian issue moving again.”

Newspapers that support the Palestine Liberation Organization generally supported the Iraqi invasion, as did Al Quds, the independent Jerusalem paper.

But other newspapers, and ordinary Palestinians, have begun to express concern about the 300,000 Palestinians who work in Kuwait--in the oil fields, in commerce and in government--and about the $100 million or more they send home every year. These people are a major source of support for relatives in the occupied territories.

Many Palestinians remember the discrimination they experienced in Kuwait, where they found that even second-generation Palestinians could not obtain citizenship or residence papers, only working permits.

The Palestinians have no love for the ruling Sabah family of Kuwait. The Sabahs, they complain, have provided more funds for the rebels in Afghanistan than for the Palestinian cause.

Palestinian leaders are calling for an early settlement of the situation in Kuwait. In East Jerusalem, Faisal Husseini, a leading Palestinian activist, urged “both sides to stop fighting and solve the conflict in a diplomatic way.”

Radwan abu Ayyash, president of the Arab Journalists’ Assn., said the Iraqi move has diverted attention from the Palestinian problem and added, “I call on our Arab brethren to stop all acts of war and seek peaceful means to solve their conflicts.”

Saleh Abdel Jawad, head of the history and political science department at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, said the Palestinian position has suffered at the expense of Israel because of Iraq’s action.

“The invasion has resulted in support for Israel’s position,” he said. “It showed that the Palestinian position is not the main problem in the Middle East, and showed Iraq as an aggressor.

“Israel will exploit this invasion in order to consolidate its position. Even before the invasion, I hinted at the negative impact of (Hussein’s) statements against Israel, which Israel exploited very well. (Hussein) has also created an uncomfortable situation for the PLO and the Palestinians, at a time when they don’t need to be a party to inter-Arab differences.”

Jawad said he is worried about the future of Palestinians working in Kuwait and the money they send home, since their well-paying jobs could be taken over by trained Iraqis.

“I think the Palestinians in Kuwait,” he said, “will lose this independence, and their cultural and financial wealth, in favor of the regime in Iraq.”