What Israelis Can't Seem to Forget, Palestinians Cannot Remember

Mortimer Zuckerman

" 'How many divisions has the pope?' That was Joseph Stalin's curt dismissal of the perceived power of the papacy in World War II -- a podium, but no troops.

"The question might today be asked of Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah leader presuming to speak for the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference. He no longer controls the Gaza Strip, and his grip on the West Bank is so weak that even in his capital of Ramallah, Fatah lost to Hamas in the most recent mayoral election. "Most intelligence assessments agree that Fatah has virtually ceased to exist in the West Bank; that instead of gaining strength after its debacle in Gaza, Fatah is weaker, having failed to curb terrorism or corruption.

"Remove Israeli forces in the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority dies, with Hamas taking over. And where would that leave the Israelis, given the vulnerability of major cities, like Tel Aviv, to rocket fire ?

"What the Israelis cannot forget, the Palestinians cannot remember. The harsh reality is that every time Israel has transferred security to the P.A. and its police, terrorism has followed . Look what happened after the Oslo 'peace' agreement. In the decade before, 41 Israelis were murdered. In the decade after, 945 were.

"Fatah itself, for all the handshakes at Annapolis, does not even accept Israel as a valid country. Just a few weeks ago, its leaders surprised the Israelis and made it clear that they will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state and, in effect, still do not support the U.N. Resolution of 1947 that provided for two states for two peoples -- a 'Jewish state' and an 'Arab state.' The State of Israel was not mentioned, for it would not be established until six months after the vote. But the state that was approved was the 'Jewish state.'

"Stunningly, even in his speech at Annapolis, Abbas made two specific references to the Arab word for catastrophe, nakba, which is the way the Palestinians describe the creation of Israel in 1948. It is their code language for the destruction of the Israeli state, for it refers to Israel's existence and not to its boundaries.

"Anybody who has visited the West Bank knows how much Fatah is dedicated to peace with Israel. The Fatah-controlled press and TV and the mosques reverberate with a continuous incitement to violence and hate. Suicide bombers are depicted as heroes. In recent polls, almost half the Palestinian population would not accept Israel, even if there was a settlement. And Fatah still maintains its own terrorist wing, namely the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade that has killed so many Israelis.

"These are the hard facts that underlie the hoopla and photo ops in Washington. Nobody wants Annapolis to fail. But it was prematurely arranged, thereby enhancing the danger of longer-term failure. The sequence is wrong. The Palestinians should have had to build up a civil administration and an effective and reliable security force first.

"It is not enough to say it is always good to talk. That is not so if the talks do not succeed, for failure can make things worse. What happens on the ground is what counts. Hope is not enough. Hope, as Francis Bacon remarked, is a good breakfast but a poor supper." u

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