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Palestinians Cannot Accept Less than 100 Percent

(Hudson Institute-New York) Khaled Abu Toameh - The Palestinians are divided today into two camps - one that is radical and another that is less radical. The radical camp, headed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, says: We want 100% of everything and we will not make any concessions to Israel. We want all the land. We want to replace Israel with an Islamic state. There is no point in talking about the possibility of negotiating with this radical camp about peace, especially as its declared goal is to eliminate Israel - not make peace with it. The less radical camp, headed by the PLO, says it wants 100% of the pre-1967 lines - meaning the entire West Bank, Gaza, and east Jerusalem. The "moderate" camp is also saying that it will not and cannot make any concessions to Israel on its territorial demands. They say they are ready to return to the negotiating table, but only if Israel agrees in advance to give them 100% of their demands. Yet even if Israel does accept all their demands, neither camp is willing to commit to ending the conflict. Further, no "moderate" Palestinian leader would dare sign such a document out of fear of being denounced by his people - and the rest of the Arab and Islamic countries - for having "sold out" to Israel by giving up the claim to all of the land. The Palestinian Authority today is hoping that the international community will give the Palestinians what Israel is not giving it at the negotiating table. The goal of the PA leadership is to internationalize the conflict with the hope of imposing a solution on Israel. This is why it has decided to go to the UN in September with a request to recognize a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 lines. But the Palestinians will only get a state on paper. The only way to achieve a state is through negotiations with Israel, whether the Palestinians like Israel or not.
2011-07-15 00:00:00
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