(Jerusalem Post) Daniel Pipes - Salam Fayyad, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, announced in English in Aspen, Colorado, a year ago that Jews are welcome to live in a future state of Palestine where they "will enjoy [full] rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights than Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the State of Israel." Just days earlier, however, Saeb Erekat, head of the PA's negotiations department, said just the opposite in Arabic: "Nobody should agree to Israeli settlers remaining in the Palestinian [state]....Some say that we will grant the settlers citizenship. We reject [this idea] out of hand." Fayyad spoke in English to Americans and Israelis, Erekat spoke in Arabic to Palestinians. Palestinians play this double game because it works. Israelis, Americans and others too often accept the dulcet tones they hear directly and dismiss reports of harsh words they only learn about second-hand.
2010-07-09 09:16:15Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive