(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Dr. Asaf Romirowsky - "Occupation" has become an all-purpose Palestinian tool. On the one hand, the Palestinians claim the Israeli "occupation" makes serious negotiations with Israel impossible. On the other, they claim that nothing can happen in Palestinian society or politics, such as the development of Palestinian state institutions or a culture of peaceful coexistence with Israel, because of the "occupation." Palestinian nationalism has never seen the conflict as one between two national groups with legitimate claims and aspirations. Israel's existence - indeed, Zionism itself, the very idea of Jewish nationalism - is regarded as wholly illegitimate. Palestinian acceptance of the two-state solution was a means of appeasing the West. But for Arafat and now for Abbas, the two-state solution was a mechanism with which to buy time until the Palestinians can finally overcome and defeat Israel. Palestine is indeed "occupied" by shadows of its own making. The writer is executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME).
2017-10-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive