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How Palestinians Hurt the Palestinians

(Times of Israel) Dr. Ely Karmon - While UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke recently of growing Palestinian frustration, he did not mention the half century of frustration of the Israeli people, who sincerely hoped to achieve peace with the Palestinians. The Palestinians have been the pioneers of the global terrorism that now threatens the international community and many UN members. Palestinians were responsible for the first hijacking of a civilian airplane (El Al in 1968); attempts at suicide air attacks (by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine); the first attack on the Olympic Games (Munich 1972); the first use of anti-aircraft missiles against civil aviation (Rome 1971), and the use of barometer bombs in airplanes (Swiss Air flight 330 in 1970 - all 47 passengers killed). Most of the perpetrators of these attacks were quickly released by most of the countries involved, even when their own citizens were the victims. Before al-Qaeda set up its training camps in Afghanistan, Palestinians were training a long list of terrorist groups in Lebanon, including the Japanese Red Army, the Armenian ASALA, the Argentine Montoneros, and the Basque ETA. One al-Qaeda ideologue and strategist of jihad was Palestinian Islamic scholar Abdullah Azzam who created the Mujahideen Services Bureau in Afghanistan. His teachings about jihad had a huge impact on generations of fighters including Osama bin Laden himself and his ideas inspire foreign fighters to this day. Azzam was instrumental in the formation of Hamas. It is time the UN and the international community recognize the Palestinians' key role in their present predicament, as well as the Israeli people's frustration and lack of confidence in the Palestinians' acceptance of a historic compromise for a two-state solution. The writer is Senior Research Scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, IDC Herzliya.
2016-02-11 00:00:00
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