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Palestinians Miss Another Opportunity

(New York Post) Matthew RJ Brodsky - With the Palestinian Authority facing a financial crisis and economic challenges, one might think its leaders would be eager to attend the upcoming "Peace to Prosperity" workshop in Bahrain this month. After all, the conference is about providing a transformative economic roadmap for the Palestinian people in the context of a conflict-ending, signed political agreement with Israel. Instead, Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat announced "a collective" boycott on behalf of "all Palestinian political movements and factions, national figures, private sector and civil society." Ahmed Majdalani, the PLO's social development minister, threatened to brand any Palestinian who attends as a "collaborator for the Americans and Israel" and "a traitor." Recall that Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban in 1973 quipped about Palestinians "never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity." Jared Kushner's recent attempt to tell Palestinians directly that they shouldn't allow their grandfather's conflict to determine their children's future may have fallen on deaf ears. Getting Palestinians to reject the idea of an endless standoff is a first step toward an Israeli-Palestinian deal. The writer is a senior fellow at the Security Studies Group in Washington.
2019-06-07 00:00:00
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