by Dror Eydar
This is what you found?
A murmured response to the question by PLO leader Yasser Arafat in
1988, and an additional hum directed toward Haaretz journalists? And
after this, they'll be angry that people talk about U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry in terms of messianic obsession.
Why should it be
necessary to search high and low for Palestinian recognition of a Jewish
state? Because there is none. One can read the declarations of the
Palestinian Authority and its leaders over the past 20 years. Indeed,
opposing recognition of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people
is more important to the Palestinians than land, since this is the true
heart of the conflict, rather than the other territorial nonsense that
the Left has been selling for years. It's not about territory and not
about settlements and not about refugee rights, not at all.
The hundred-year-old
argument is about the Jewish people's right to an independent home in
the Land of Israel. Not only the Palestinians -- no Arab state
recognizes our right as Jews to any part of the region. They obscure the
issue and talk about "recognizing Israel," since the desire is to
perpetuate the conflict even after a diplomatic treaty is signed, when
the false claim will be that the Arab minority in Israel is suffering
under "apartheid" and should have autonomy, since they belong to the
Palestinian people who have been here since the dawn of creation. The
international battle against Israel will continue to dismantle its
Jewish identity on the way to making it a state for all its
nationalities. There will be no end to the conflict without recognition
of a Jewish state. This should be at the top of the Left's priorities.
Kerry should read the
Palestinian National Charter, the founding document of the "moderate"
Fatah. It was ratified by the Sixth General Assembly of the Fatah
Movement in Bethlehem in August 2009, when Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas was again elected head of the organization. This
conference approved a plan that included the principle of "absolute
irrevocable opposition to recognition of Israel as a 'Jewish state' to
protect the rights of refugees and the rights of our people [Israeli
Arabs] beyond the Green Line."
Here, Mr. Kerry, is the
rationale for the Palestinian refusal to recognize a Jewish state: They
will continue to demand that refugees return even after a deal is
signed and turn the parts of Israel around the Green Line into a
binational state. Abbas and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat both
voted in favor of the plan.
And here is a quote
from the Palestinian platform that thus far, despite repeated promises,
has not been changed: "Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews
with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true
conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is
not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation
with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which
they belong." The Jews are not a people but a religion, and therefore
have no national rights. Clear and simple. Just read it.
The insistence upon
recognition of a Jewish state isn't meant for us. We don't need
recognition from Ramallah. The call to recognize Israel as a Jewish
state is intended to block the PLO's progressive tactic in which each
territory it receives serves as the base for the next demand. And not
recognition in empty words, but a requirement that this recognition make
its way into the Palestinian school studies and media. As of now, the
state of Israel doesn't exist in the PA. So the Israeli insistence on
recognition is non-negotiable. Without this, it is better to maintain
the status quo. The so-called threat that without a diplomatic deal
Israel's situation will worsen has been made for a hundred years
already. Don't try to scare us. We've managed all right so far.
Ahead of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's arrival, the American administration sought to
pressure Israel by releasing an aggressive interview President Barack
Obama gave to Jeffrey Goldberg. And now, as Abbas is on his way, John
Kerry is putting out statements to press Israel -- imagine that -- into
relieving the Palestinians of their responsibility. It's not only a
matter of justice and fair mediation, it's much more serious. John
Kerry's recent remarks have helped the PLO's step-by-step approach.
Dror Eydar
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=7715
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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