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Before Any Talks, the Palestinians Must Move from Rejection to Recognition
(Jerusalem Post) Avraham Neguise - Some cling to the belief that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is overwhelmingly a territorial issue that can be concluded by marked lines on a map. However, a recent attempt by the Palestinian Authority to sue the British government over the Balfour Declaration demonstrates how seriously their rejection of any form of Jewish self-determination stands at the root of their position vis-a-vis Israel. Abbas and his predecessors have repeatedly rejected any form of a Jewish state regardless of its borders. Palestinian rejectionism of Israel, reaffirmed every day through their political, religious, education and media systems, remains the greatest obstacle to peace. The roots of the conflict are ideological and not territorial. For the conflict to finally end, a prerequisite to any negotiations has to be the end of the rejection of the Jews' right to self-determination. The Palestinians must cease their terrorism and their diplomatic, political and ideological war. Once they stop spending their funds and resources on the destruction of Israel, terrorist attacks, payments to terrorists, and institutional incitement, they can instead focus their energies on stabilizing Palestinian democratic institutions and social issues and create a win-win for the region and its people. The writer chairs the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.