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No Rush for a Palestinian State
(Jerusalem Report) Ehud Ya'ari - The Palestinian leadership, it may transpire, is not so keen on the independence that's being offered it. The mood in the ranks of important parts of the Fatah movement is: a state? Surely, but only under terms that leave open the option of resuming the conflict - no security barrier, no waiving of the "right of return," no agreement to Israel's retention of "settlement blocs." And, Palestinian leaders of the highest rank say in private conversations, if such a state is not immediately attainable, why, there's no reason to rush. In the Gaza Strip, the de facto independence that the Palestinians will achieve without paying any price will not be used to construct a model of successful sovereignty, but rather will become a base for the struggle for the West Bank and Jerusalem. They will refuse to see the withdrawal as an end either to the occupation of the Strip or to the terrorist activity emanating from it.