Why the Palestinians Aren’t Ready for a State

As the world looks at a Middle East conflict, they keep on waiting when a peaceful and “free” Palestinian state would be established. The goal of establishing a Palestinian state has been the goal of different US Administrations from at the latest George HW. Bush to Clinton, to George W. Bush all the way up to Obama. George W. Bush pledged to establish a Palestinian state by the end of his presidency. Even Obama makes a Palestinian state his goal.

I’m all for a peaceful and democratic Palestinian state to be right next door to Israel. But a Palestinian state can only come with a Palestinian leadership committed to peace with Israel and one that fights terrorism. That leadership can’t allow incitement that calls for the murder of Jews and for the extermination of Israel. The Palestinian leadership has to fight for peace and can’t just give cheap lip service for peace when talking to the international community. The leadership has to take the course of peace instead of continuing the terror war on Israel. A Palestinian leadership that’s committed to peace with Israel serves the aspirations of the Palestinian people, not just Israel. If a Palestinian leadership that’s committed to peace and democracy emerges, it will bring about a Palestinian state and will solve a heated conflict in the Middle East [unless Arab and Muslim rejectionists come in and spoil it].

The claim that Israel “illegally” occupies Palestinian land is a myth. Israel won the territories in a war of self-defence. Israel acquired the West Bank and Gaza from Jordan and Egypt, not from any imaginary Palestinian nation. Israel always sought to return the land for peace, as demonstrated by the fact that even under the “hardline” Menachem Begin of the Likud party, Israel returned the Sinai, 91% of the territory that the Jewish state won in 1967, back to Egypt in exchange for a piece of paper that states that Egypt recognizes Israel’s right to exist. Even after the Camp David accords, the Egyptian government continued to promote anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. One of the reasons was to distract the Egyptian people of the problem their regime is causing by distracting them of what is supposedly happening in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Even a few months after Israel’s 1967 victory, she offered to return at least most of the territory for peace. The Arab states responded with “No peace, no negotiations. No recognition”. Abba Eban’s claim that “The Palestinians never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity” is based on extensive moments in the conflict, which includes what happened in Camp David in 2000, where the Jewish state offered to give Yasser Arafat most of what the Palestinians claimed [and claim] they want [and want] including the Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem despite his violations of the Oslo accords, which include anti-Semitic incitement and support for terror. Palestinian mobs destroyed Jewish holy sites like Joseph’s tomb and the ancient peace for Israel synagogue. During the Oslo years, the Muslim leadership in the temple Mount threw out Jewish artifacts. During Israel’s years of existence, when Jewish holy sites fell under Arab rule, they were neglected and mistreated. Yet despite this, in Camp David in 2000, then-Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak offered to give Arafat 97% of the West Bank, all of Gaza, and even some of Israel’s historic capital, basically all land won in a war of self-defence to a “peace” partner that recognized Israel’s right to exist and denounced terror in theory, but not in reality. The offer included giving Arafat full control of the Temple Mount. Imagine if the Vatican gave land to an enemy dedicated to its destruction that included Christian holy sites and that gives the genocidal enemy strategic land to attack the Vatican. Well, that’s what happened with Israel, in giving land won in a land of self-defense that included Jewish holy sites to a Jew-hating leadership. Arafat said no and organized the next terror uprising against Israel known as the second intifada. During that intifada, in 2001 in Taba, Israel offered the same thing. It was rejected again.