Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Missed Palestinian Opportunities

Since the beginning of the Arab-Israeli conflict and until the start of the Oslo process in the early 1990's, the Palestinians rejected each and every peace offer. Since then, as well, every offer made by Israel at the negotiating table has been rejected and scorned. Unfortunately, throughout their history, the Palestinians have demonstrated that they have been more interested in perpetuating their struggle against Israel than in establishing their own state.
In 1937, the British Peel Commission decided to partition the Palestine mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Arabs rejected the plan because it forced them to accept the creation of a Jewish state, and required some Arab Palestinians to live under "Jewish domination." While the Arabs refused to consider any compromises, the Jews, on the other hand, decided to engage in negotiations with the British regarding the Peel Plan's boundaries.



In 1947, the UN developed a plan for the partition of the territory of the Palestinian mandate. This plan, known as UN Resolution 181, would have given the Arab Palestinians a state of their own, including within it most of the territory's fertile land. The Jews accepted the plan, despite their misgivings, especially with regard to the internationalization of Jerusalem and the minimal allocation of territory. The Palestinians, and the surrounding Arab states, rejected it completely and initiated a war to destroy the nascent Jewish state.



When the War of Independence ended, the Arabs controlled the West Bank and Gaza. Yet instead of establishing a state for Arab Palestinians in these two areas, they still concentrated their efforts on destroying the Jewish state.



When the Six Day War ended in 1967, and Israel was interested in peace, the answer of the Arab League Summit in Khartoum was the famous "Three Noes:" No negotiations, no recognition and no peace with Israel.



When the Camp David Talks in the late '70's led to peace between Israel and the Egyptians, the Palestinians virulently attacked the treaty, and rejected the plan for autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza which it contained.



When the Oslo Process began the early '90's, the Palestinians violated their pledge to abandon violence and terrorism, carrying on terrorist attacks at the same time they were carrying on negotiations. In the face of this violence, the talks couldn't lead to a final peace deal, despite Israel's best efforts.



In 2000, under the auspices of US President Clinton, the Israelis and Palestinians met at Camp David and Taba in order to find a resolution to the conflict. Despite being offered all of the Gaza Strip, almost all of the West Bank and a compromise in Jerusalem, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat rejected the plan and refused to offer any compromises of his own. Again the Palestinians had refused their own state and a short time after this, embarked upon a horrific suicide terrorist onslaught against Israelis, which came to be known as the Second Intifada.



In August 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip, removing all its military and civilian presence. Again, the Palestinians failed to take advantage of this opportunity to establish the foundations for their state. Instead, they immediately embarked on a campaign of cross-border mortar and rocket attacks on Israel, spearheaded by the terrorist Hamas organization.



After the November 2007 Annapolis meeting, the Palestinians missed another opportunity for peace, be refusing to respond to the unprecedented offer made by Prime Minister Olmert, again relinquishing their chance to establish a Palestinian state.



Time after time, Israel has chosen peace, and taken advantage of every opportunity to offer a far-reaching compromise solution to the conflict with its Palestinian neighbors. Yet, unfortunately, time after time, the Palestinians have missed these opportunities to create their own state, choosing instead to follow the path of violence and terrorism in the hopes of eventually defeating the Jewish state which has extended to them the hand of peace.





מח' מידע ואינטרנט – אגף תקשורת


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