(Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman - On Nov. 5, PA negotiator-in-chief Saeb Erekat's office issued a media guidance document called "Key Points to Remember when Reporting on Occupied Palestine." The document reveals just how far the Palestinian leadership is from accepting the premises necessary for true peace with Israel. The document says that "Israel imposes a policy of forced displacement of the indigenous Palestinian population and replacement with foreign settlers." Whether or not the Palestinians are "indigenous" (there may be good reason to doubt that they have been there "from time immemorial"), Jews are certainly not "foreign" in their own land. Erekat alleges that the "colonization enterprise and illegal occupation" is the "root cause of the continuous uprisings of the Palestinian people." "Colonization"? The League of Nations mandate authorized, indeed encouraged, Jews to settle in the land of their forefathers. The term "colonization" is an attempt to tar Israel with the brush of European colonialism. The Palestinians signed the Oslo Declaration of Principles, which made it very clear that full sovereignty, borders, and settlements are issues to be settled in "permanent status" talks. Palestinian attempts to now leap over this requirement for negotiations do not alter the fact that the path to independence through negotiations has very much been open to the Palestinians. Three times over the past decade the PA has rejected the compromises put on the table by Israel. To write that "Israel today continues to reject the two-state solution" is to pile lie and insult upon injury. It was Abbas who effectively rejected the U.S. framework proposals suggested in spring 2014 by Secretary of State John Kerry. The writer, a senior IDF Military Intelligence officer, served as deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at the National Security Council in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
2015-11-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive