(Middle East Quarterly) David Patterson - The greatest obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians is virulent, jihadist hatred of Jews. Hamas and Fatah have developed a theological and ideological justification that precludes any negotiations that would lead to a lasting peace with a Jewish state. At best, one can expect an application of the PLO's phased strategy, which gives the illusion of peace without renouncing its goal of Jewish extermination. Neither Hamas nor Fatah can agree in good faith to any peace with the Jews since in their eyes to do so would amount to treason or apostasy or both. The writer is Hillel Feinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the author of A Genealogy of Evil: Anti-Semitism from Nazism to Islamic Jihad (2011).
2011-09-16 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive