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The Palestinian Intifada has been a Disaster
(Globe & Mail - Canada) Editorial - The violence has been a tragedy for Israelis, but it has been a disaster for Palestinians, and has done nothing but ill for the Palestinian cause. Unemployment in the territories is 50 percent. The tens of thousands of jobs in Israel that Palestinians depended upon have disappeared. The rate of poverty is now 70 percent in the Gaza Strip and 55 percent in the West Bank. The violence has transformed the Israeli political landscape. The majority view in favor of accommodation has been replaced by a conviction that the Palestinian threat is existential - it's either us or them. The intifada has been particularly disastrous in terms of public opinion in the United States, where it really matters. Americans view Israel as facing much the same threat that they have since Sept. 11. The first intifada lasted from 1987 to 1992 and was instrumental in forcing Israel and Palestinian leaders to the negotiating table. The second intifada did the opposite. It has besmirched the Palestinian cause. It has to end.