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Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/how-not-to-create-palestine/article5766526/
How Not to Create Palestine
(Globe and Mail-Canada) Yossi Klein Halevi - There is only one way for the Palestinians to achieve statehood, and that is to convince a majority of Israelis that a Palestinian state would be a peaceful neighbor. The vote on Palestinian statehood at the UN will only reinforce the fear among Israelis that Palestinians intend to impose a solution that will leave Israel without peace or security. In asserting that Israel hasn't been a credible negotiating partner, the Palestinian leadership is depending on the world's amnesia. Twice in the past decade, Israeli prime ministers - Ehud Barak in 2000 and Ehud Olmert in 2008 - offered the Palestinians statehood. No stateless people has rejected offers of statehood as often as the Palestinians. And no other national movement seeks to empower its people on the ruins of another people's state. Instead of forcing Palestinian leaders to face reality and negotiate with Israel in good faith, the international community encourages Palestinian fantasies, such as Abbas' latest initiative at the UN. The writer is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.