Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Remind Me Again: What Is The Purpose Of Obama's Peace Talks?

I have often touched upon the point--most recently today--that Abbas is not out to negotiate peace, but rather to  acquire the concessions necessary to create a second Palestinian state.

Abbas himself has said point blank that he cannot make concessions. That of course raises the question of when--if ever--he will actually negotiate in good faith.

Yaacov Lozowick asks When do We Get to the Real Issues? and writes about the absurdity of waiting for compromise on one of Abbas's key demands. After all,

if at Camp David in 2000, Taba in 2001, and the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations of 2007-2008, there were Israeli offers to divide Jerusalem, and none of which (so far as we can know) ever included any indication of a Palestinian willingness to relinquish their demand for a Right of Return - when, exactly, will such an offer be made? First Israel must agree to dismantle all settlements, move back to the lines of 1967 (with or without land swaps), divide Jerusalem, accept some responsibility for the Naqba.... and then what? Having achieved much of what they demand, the Palestinians will then, from the goodness of their hearts, give up on their dream of using the return of great-grandchildren of refugees so as to demographically take over Israel? [emphasis added]
Abbas's numerous demands--all of which he says are non-negotiable--are clear.
Just what is Israel supposed to get out of this?

And if your answer is: well, Israel gets peace, of course--well, if that is true, why should Israel think that Abbas, whose term ran out nearly 2 years ago, will be any more capable of maintaining peace then than he is capable of containing incitement of hatred against Israel now?

Technorati Tag: and .

2 comments:

NormanF said...

And what is the point of making peace with someone who can't give as well as take?

The peace Israel would getting after it surrendered to all of Abu Bluff's demands wouldn't be worth the paper it would be written on.

With that kind of peace, its more preferable to prepare for war.

Unknown said...

stick to your guns. stop trying to be liked.