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Palestinians: Israeli Concessions Are a Sign of Weakness

(Gatestone Institute) Bassam Tawil - Palestinian terror groups still see Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 not as a humanitarian gift but as the beginning of the "comprehensive liberation" of all the land stretching "from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea" - a euphemism for the elimination of Israel. The Palestine Liberation Organization's 1974 "Ten Point Plan" states that the Palestinians should take whatever land they are given and use it as a launching pad for getting the rest. Hamas and other Palestinians never saw the withdrawal from Gaza as a sign that Israel seeks to live in peace and coexistence with its Arab neighbors. They saw the withdrawal as an Israeli retreat - a defeat in the face of a massive wave of terror. The message the Palestinians came away with was not that the Israelis had given them land in the hope of peace, but rather: "We were shooting and they ran away, so let's keep on shooting and they will keep on running away!" The Palestinian terror groups are trying to drive Jews out of the West Bank through drive-by shootings, stabbings, rockets and car-rammings. They want to turn the West Bank into another launching pad for attacking Israel the same way they did with Gaza. The Palestinians want all "settlers" removed - from the West Bank, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and all of Israel. In their view, "all of Israel" is just one big settlement. The Palestinians' rhetoric and actions since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza have clearly proven that the conflict with Israel is not about borders and settlements, but about the refusal to allow Israel to exist. It is time for decision-makers in Washington and other countries to trust what the Palestinians are saying: that they perceive Israeli concessions not as gestures of peace, but as gestures of surrender.
2023-09-28 00:00:00
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