Palestinians: Negotiating The Price--Not The Peace

Fatah member Ahmed Qureia, who heads the Palestinian negotiating team with Israel, has an interview with Haaretz.

In response to a question about borders of a potential Palestinian state, Qureia responds:

If they want peace, they should pay the price.

When Israel won the wars that the Arabs engaged in against her, Israel inevitably ended up 'paying' for that victory with land. The idea of "Land for Peace" became the theme for any peace negotiations. As a result, the Arabs never had to pay the consequence for those wars.

As Amir Taheri writes:

For a war to be won, it is not enough for one side to claim victory. It is also necessary for one side to admit defeat. Yet in the Arab-Israeli wars, the side that had won every time was not allowed to claim victory, while the side that had lost was prevented from admitting defeat. Why? Because each time the United Nations had intervened to put the victor and the vanquished on an equal basis and lock them into a problematic situation in the name of a mythical quest for an impossible peace.

Now it seems that the Palestinian Arabs are addicted to the "Land for Peace" concept--worse: they see it as a one-way street. They get the concessions they want and then there will be peace.

Apparently the "Land for Peace" concept has changed. When Queria says "If they want peace, they should pay the price"--he is talking about blackmail.

And Obama is the pickup man.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Obama and Palestinians.