Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Quotable Words

...The mistake of the people from among us who declared Palestinian independence stems from an uncritical acceptance of one mistaken assumption - - - that the Palestinian people is fed up with the Israeli occupation and therefore it’s (whole) desire is establishment of a Palestinian state in “its own” territory, namely the West Bank and Gaza alone.

The first part of the assumption is correct: the Palestinians are fed up with the Israeli presence. The second part is incorrect, however. The Palestinian narrative is different. It is based on a desire for revenge, for “justice”, and above all The Right of Return. From their perspective this Right is not the Right of a people to return to their motherland, but the right of individuals to return to their homes, whether they are in Haifa, Lod or Ramat Aviv. But the desire to establish a state, and certainly a small one split between the West Bank and Gaza, was never their honest ambition, final and true.

...A Palestinian state if one is established on the basis of negotiations with Israel, will force the Palestinians to agree to three things: abandon the Right of Return, recognition that the agreement includes an end to the conflict, and agreement that the state of Israel is the Jewish state. But the Palestinians are not prepared to concede on these things. Consequently they have turned aggressively to the possibility of establishing a state through the UN – a decision that basically will not require them to concede on anything.

It is critical that Israel insist on these three conditions.


Giora Eiland, Yedioth Ahronot, April 27, 2011

(translation YS)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why should Palestinians abandon the right of return? If Jews can claim residency after 1900 years in Poland and Brooklyn why can't Palestinians claim the right after 63 years? It's insane. The San Remo declaration and cockeyed interpretations of the Balfour declaration will not count as answers.

Anonymous said...

your jewishness is showing through