(Forbes) Alexander Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky - Palestinians are stranded between two core cultural beliefs. The first is unending opposition to Israel. "Steadfastness" means rejecting the existence of the Jewish state, and this is manifest at all levels of Palestinian society, from school textbooks to summer camp programs, to TV shows, literature and poetry. Virtually any peaceful interactions with Israelis are scorned as "normalization," and Israel is vilified by official PA and Hamas media. Vicious Palestinian incitement keeps the national cause alive by focusing on Israel and the Jews as the sources of all Palestinian misfortune. At the same time there is another Palestinian imperative: the absolute necessity to maintain international aid. In per capita terms Palestinians have long been the world's largest recipients of aid, far outstripping the vastly more impoverished regions of Africa and Asia. Intifada threatens aid, as does statehood, at least eventually. Alexander Joffe is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Asaf Romirowsky is an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Forum and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
2012-09-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive