[Jerusalem Post] Ira Sharkansky - Israel's offers were not good enough for Arafat in 2000, and now Mahmoud Abbas is demanding more, and sooner than Olmert is willing or able to provide. Abbas also continues to express the Palestinian dream of refugees from 1948 and their children returning to homes that no longer exist, and he is not able or willing to assert security on that portion of the West Bank that he controls. Israeli leaders have offered reasonable proposals, but they are not willing to commit suicide for themselves or their population. The ball remains in the court of the Palestinians. It has been there for the better part of 60 years. They have to do more than demand ever more generous terms from Israel. The writer is professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2007-09-11 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive