"We have the capacity to enter into relations with other states and have embassies and missions in more than 100 countries. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union have indicated that our institutions are developed to the level where we are now prepared for statehood. Only the occupation of our land hinders us from reaching our full national potential; it does not impede United Nations recognition."
Like many other Israelis, I want nothing more than an independent Palestine, which will enable Palestinians to enjoy the fruits of liberty and determine their own destiny. I also have no opposition to East Jerusalem serving as their capital, as was proposed by Israeli prime ministers Barak and Olmert. Moreover, there is no question in my mind that Abbas & Co. are capable of establishing embassies, operating banks and delivering the mail. But does brother Mahmoud have the will or capacity to prevent terrorist organizations from firing missiles at tiny Israel? Herein lies the crux of the matter.
Abbas succeeds in glossing over his recent unity pact with Hamas without even mentioning the name of this political party, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union, Canada and Japan. Did Abbas really think that by not mentioning his pact with Hamas, whose charter calls for the murder of all Jews (not just Israelis), this omission would be overlooked?
No mention either of the recent incident at Joseph's tomb, where an unarmed Israeli civilian who had come to pray at Joseph's tomb in Nablus (such visitations by religious Jews occur regularly), was shot dead in cold blood by the Palestinian police (see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13179865). This hardly inspires confidence.
Read brother Mahmoud's op-ed again. What else is missing? There is no mention of whether he is prepared to recognize Israel. Sure, he is currently willing to establish a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, but nowhere does he say that he intends this as a permanent arrangement or that this is tantamount to recognition of Israel. Brother Mahmoud writes:
"Once admitted to the United Nations, our state stands ready to negotiate all core issues of the conflict with Israel. A key focus of negotiations will be reaching a just solution for Palestinian refugees based on Resolution 194, which the General Assembly passed in 1948."
Apparently, recognition of Israel is one of those "core issues," which leads to the conclusion that Abbas, like Hamas, is seeking the establishment of a Palestinian state coupled with "hudnah," i.e. a mere temporary truce with Israel.
Assistance to Palestinian refugees? Absolutely, but what about those 900,000 Jews who since 1948 were evicted from their homes in the Muslim Middle East, deprived of their property, and also sent to live in squalid tent cities? Don't they deserve a "just solution"?
And for the sake of accuracy, note how Abbas fails to mention that it was the Palestinians who refused to accept the 1947 UN General Assembly partition plan, which would have created an independent Palestine more than 60 years ago. He also has forgotten that most of the land designated by the UN for that Palestinian state was appropriated by Egypt and Jordan until 1967.
But let's not hold any of this against dear Mahmoud, who, practiced in the art of taqiyya, i.e. lying to gullible non-believers, must do what he must do in order to survive.
You go, JG. Proud to have honest, common-sense people who can get straight to the heart of the matter and dispute the lies and the lying liars who disseminate them.
ReplyDeleteVery nice analysis, agree on all points with you. Our problem as Jews is we are always ready and willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, even those people who proclaim to want to kill us. Maybe we should not be so naive and continue to love ourselves and our friends first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteThe most amazing thing about that Abbas op-ed piece was how he glided over the fact that the partition plan had been rejected by the Arab side.
ReplyDelete(There actually had been some Palestinians who wanted to accept it, but the Mufti basically forced everyone to back down)
Then Abbas blamed the war on expulsions of Arabs which never happened certainly before May 14, 1948. he could have complained that they were not let back in after the ceasefire, but apparently international law would not uphold that as a grievance. The whole point is that almost none of the Arabs who fled thought it was permanent. They thought, either the foreign Arab armies will be victorious and we will avoid being mistaken for Jews while they are being killed and then we will return, or the Jews will win and we will come back after the end of the fighting.
By the way, in Safed, the Israeli Army was also destroying homes of Sephardic Jews who had been advised to flee, and it continued until some soldier threatened to have the home of the person doing all of this also destroyed.