No, no and no!
Once again the Palestinians have exhibited their negative attitude towards peace with Israel, as the Revolutionary Council of Fatah met in Ramallah and supported Pres. Abbas by passing resolutions rejecting any recognition of Israel as a Jewish State, no agreement to land swaps to adjust borders and rejection of direct negotiations without a precondition of an Israeli building freeze in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. This represents their attitude towards so-called peace, so how could anyone take them seriously as peace partners. Especially since they use every opportunity to undermine the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel and its sites. For example, they rejected the Jewish nature of the Western (wailing) wall, the Kotel, and the Temple Mount and they were behind the UNESCO Committee decision that Rachel's Tomb and the Machpela Cave in Hebron are both Moslem Mosques, which is neither historically nor factually correct. Meanwhile from Damascus, the leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, called on all Palestinains to resume active armed resistance against Israel. And Israel is the side that the liberal peaceniks in the west criticize??
One reason why the so-called moderates in Fatah reject recognizing Israel as a Jewish State is that according to their logic this would negate the "right of return" of the so-called Palestinian refugees to Israel, which is in any case a rhetorical device without basis in international law. Another reason why thyey adopt such a rejectionist position is that they don't feel that they need to negotiate with Israel, since the US under Pres. Barack Obama is doing the negotiating for them. Actually it is Israel and the US who are negotiating, with the Palestinians sitting on the sidelines throwing spanners into the works. So far the package of US inducements to PM Netanyahu to persuade him to extend the building freeze for another 3 months has not materialized from the State Department. Maybe they have problems in keeping the oral agreement made between Netanyahu and Secty of State Clinton. Alternatively it may be the Palestinian and other Arab opposition to the Israeli-US deal that is causing the delay. But, even if the agreement is made, it does not reach the minimum requirements of Israeli concessions for the Palestinians to engage in talks.
Another reason why Fatah is taking a hard line is that Hamas and the Syrians and Hizbollah and the Iranians are waiting on the sidelines to see what happens. Any attmept by Fatah to actually make any kind of deal with Israel would result in a potential civil war between Palestinian factions that could end in Abbas' assassination. So he treads very warily, hardly leaving the safety of Palestinian rejectionism.
One reason why the so-called moderates in Fatah reject recognizing Israel as a Jewish State is that according to their logic this would negate the "right of return" of the so-called Palestinian refugees to Israel, which is in any case a rhetorical device without basis in international law. Another reason why thyey adopt such a rejectionist position is that they don't feel that they need to negotiate with Israel, since the US under Pres. Barack Obama is doing the negotiating for them. Actually it is Israel and the US who are negotiating, with the Palestinians sitting on the sidelines throwing spanners into the works. So far the package of US inducements to PM Netanyahu to persuade him to extend the building freeze for another 3 months has not materialized from the State Department. Maybe they have problems in keeping the oral agreement made between Netanyahu and Secty of State Clinton. Alternatively it may be the Palestinian and other Arab opposition to the Israeli-US deal that is causing the delay. But, even if the agreement is made, it does not reach the minimum requirements of Israeli concessions for the Palestinians to engage in talks.
Another reason why Fatah is taking a hard line is that Hamas and the Syrians and Hizbollah and the Iranians are waiting on the sidelines to see what happens. Any attmept by Fatah to actually make any kind of deal with Israel would result in a potential civil war between Palestinian factions that could end in Abbas' assassination. So he treads very warily, hardly leaving the safety of Palestinian rejectionism.
posted by Jack Cohen at 1:39 PM
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