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Source: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.720088
Israel Has No Partner for Peace
(Ha'aretz) Gadi Taub - Israeli-Palestinian negotiations rested on the assumption that another kilometer, another percentage of territory, another 10,000 refugees, and it would be possible to finish stretching the bridge over the abyss. However, accumulated experience showed that at every critical junction the Palestinians found the kilometer or percentage (let alone the right of return) to prevent agreement. It is no coincidence that Palestinian textbooks continue to draw the map of Palestine without Israel. It is no coincidence that PA propaganda praises martyrs. It is no coincidence that the PA has not dedicated the enormous resources that the international community has provided it to nation-building. And, it is no coincidence that they continue to promise the right of return. The Palestinian leadership does not recognize our right to a nation state of our own in the areas that it sees as its land, and no combination of the details can hide this fact. Thus, the continued conflict is not our sole responsibility, and its conclusion does not depend currently on our will. The Palestinians seek to be portrayed always as the sole victims, but the responsibility for the continued conflict rests in great deal at their doorstep. The writer, an Israeli historian, author, screenwriter, and political commentator, is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Policy at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.