(Canadian Jewish News) Editorial - Ten years ago, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton tried to coax an agreement from then-Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. But Clinton's efforts foundered on Arafat's hard-core unwillingness to commit to a non-violent end to the conflict. Seven years earlier, Clinton and so many hopeful, wishful thinkers dared to dream that the Oslo accords were a true harbinger of peace. But the dreamers were forced to take shelter from the Palestinian rejectionists' unremitting campaign of violence and terrorism directed at the Jewish state. Despite Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and the subsequent negotiating generosity of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Palestinians have consistently refused to declare finally and for all time an end to the conflict. Nor does it seem they will be willing to do so any time soon. To be sure, the current Israeli government is philosophically and politically committed to striking a harder bargain with the PA than its predecessor was. But that is the price the Palestinians are paying for the cumulative effect of their long-drawn aversion to peaceful coexistence alongside a Jewish state.
2010-12-31 08:40:43Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive