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Source: https://www.jns.org/opinion/why-the-palestinians-will-reject-the-deal-of-the-century/
Why the Palestinians Will Reject the U.S. Peace Deal
(JNS) Lt.-Col. (res) Maurice Hirsch - The Palestinian rejection of the U.S. peace deal will not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with their consistently expressed demands regarding any future peace deal. Cumulatively, these demands require the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. Any suggested peace deal that does not meet these demands will be rejected by the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority was created as a function of the 1993 Oslo agreement. While the Palestinians were happy to assume the control and jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza afforded to them by the accords, they had no intention whatsoever to negotiate any settlement regarding the other issues. The PLO/PA stance on Jerusalem is that the city is holy Islamic territory that no earthly body has the right to forfeit to non-Islamic rule. Any peace deal that suggests leaving any part of Jerusalem under non-PA/Islamic jurisdiction will be rejected. Moreover, any peace accord that does not ensure the dismantling of every "settlement," including multiple neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and the expulsion of every Israeli from those areas, will be rejected. Any peace plan must ensure the right of every Palestinian refugee to return to the area in which he, or most likely his father/grandfather, lived in 1948. There are 5,545,540 Palestinian "refugees" registered with UNRWA. The PLO/PA understand that the influx of these refugees would signal the end of the democratic Jewish state. For years the Palestinians have consistently expressed their demands regarding any potential peace plan. Any peace plan, offered by any person, at any time, that does not capitulate, in full, to the PLO/PA's demands, will be rejected. The PLO/PA are still living in 1947 and still reject the very existence of Israel. No appeasing of them, short of offering the destruction of Israel, will ever suffice. The writer, Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch, served for 19 years in the IDF Military Advocate General Corps, including as Director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria.