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PA Recognizes that Israel Exists But Not Its Right to Exist
(Jerusalem Post) Itamar Marcus - Abbas' refusal to recognize the Jewish state reflects a fundamental element of PA policy to deny Jewish history - especially in Jerusalem. When Israeli archeologists in 2013 displayed gold artifacts with Jewish symbols, such as a menorah and a shofar, found 50 meters from the Western Wall in Jerusalem, former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei immediately denied its authenticity on official PA TV: "I think all this is a forgery, forgery of the truth. It's all an attempt to make claims. They did not find anything." (Official PA TV, September 11, 2013). The PA's refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state is not a mere technicality, but part of an overarching policy of denying thousands of years of Jewish history in Israel, and thereby denying Israel's right to exist. Although in the Oslo Accords in 1993 the PLO recognized the existence of Israel, the PA differentiates between recognizing that Israel exists and recognizing Israel's right to exist. The writer is director of Palestinian Media Watch.