Opinion
Beware Palestinian despair
Alex Fishman
Published: 02.03.12, 00:45
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35 Talkbacks for this article
1. an the probablity of Abbas quitting is what?
Danny   (03.02.12)
how likely is it that he will give up the gravy train? Because he has been threatening to resign since he came to power.
2. What's to miss? Another useless guy will take his place!
Jack ,   San Diego, USA   (03.02.12)
3. "all options are open?"
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (03.02.12)
Sounds like a big old threat to me. Put this terrorist asshole in his place, for once and for all. He doesn't set terms and conditions for ANYTHING. Send him and his terrorist hordes packing. Just who the hell does this unrepentant terrorist miscreant think he is? Israel can get along quite nicely without him. I doubt he can say the same. But I am more than willing to give him a chance to try ....
4. Abbas' "despair?"
Neal ,   Minneapolis, USA   (03.02.12)
If Abbas is in despair, why won't he continue negotiating with Israel? Why won't he move the needle even one dot from maximalist demands? Israel has committed itself publicly to a two-state solution. But Israel cannot negotiate a peace that does not include an agreement to end hostility and end further claims. This Abbas refuses to do -- or cannot do. Unless Abbas and his Arab kin agree to accapt a Jewish state in some portion of the former British Mandate, there is nothing to negoriate. Meantime, the PA continues to deny the reality of Israel (putting Arab place names for Israeli towns on its maps) and preaches or condones preaching of hostility to Israel. What kind of peaceful intention does that show?
5. Israel closed all doors!
Ziad-Palestine ,   Canada   (03.02.12)
Israel government closed all peace doors! I think this intransigence by Israeli prime minister would not help Israelis. Moderate parties in Israel must stand for peace as Palestinians do. Abbas the head of Palestinian Authority belong to one moderate Palestinian party, so the solution for all of those problems is to have a real peace Israeli partner. Peace parties in Israel must stand against current extremist government.
6. BS
Marco ,   Spain   (03.02.12)
7. There is always the river to cross.
leo ,   usa   (03.02.12)
8. Good article, however...
esnuffnstl ,   USA   (03.02.12)
...most around here dream of the day when the Palestinians can be forcibly removed from land "given to Israel by G-d." Your article's likely to fall on deaf ears. That Israelis might one day pine for the days of 2012 and for leaders like Abbas is obvious. The situation for Israel could become much, much worse. There almost certainly won't be a time as favorable as now to give the Palestinians their own state. With the ME in turmoil, now is perfect time for Israel to step up and do what needs to be done to make peace. "Do what needs to be done" means exactly that: no more excuses, no more finger pointing, and no more humoring your far-right who believe the world will forever except the status quo (and certainly won't except any situation where the Palestinian situation becomes worse.) A peaceful future is currently within Israel's reach. This may not always be the case. Don't blow it.
9. Abba's despair and/or threat
tiki ,   belgium   (03.02.12)
Is only bad for Abbas & his people. All his threats, warnings, tricks, big talk & 'mullings have led him & his people to......NOTHING. If HE would have been serious leader, willing to make 'real peace, live next to a Jewish State and say so openly (not his squirming double talk), he would have done himself & his people a much bigger sevice. Nobody can look into the future but this double face gone is not such a loss, for the truth of the 'moderate Palestinian, willing to live in Peace with Israel' will eveporate like smoke and it's ALWAYS better to know your enemy than to have a false 'friend.
10. Not "despair" at all. It's a strategic choice for no peace
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (03.02.12)
It's becoming clearer and clearer that the Palestinians have absolutely no intention of signing any peace treaty with Israel. None of their leaders, Abbas included, will sign a treaty that does not include the mass influx to Israel proper of millions of Arabs born abroad. Israel will, of course, never agree to the "right of return" that Abbas demands. Abbas will not sign. Nor will any other Palestinian leader. Read his lips! He is signing a deal with Hamas - and what does Hamas want? Despair? Not even close. It's cold blooded calculation.
11. Allenbi bridge is wide open eastwards !
trumpeldor   (03.02.12)
12. To no. 11
Peace-loving Pali!   (03.02.12)
And the Mediterranean is open Westwards to where you came from!!
13. #5 What is peace to Palestinians?
Sam ,   Canada   (03.02.12)
Palestinians want Israel to give them a Palestinian majority Palestine but they reject living next to a Jewish majority Israel. Why would any sane Israeli agree to this? Palestinians always demand peace but they are incapable of telling us what peace is because they want Israel to disappear and it is not politically correct to say so.
14. We'll miss the Holocaust denying terrorist. NOT!
Chaim ,   Israel   (03.02.12)
Is Fishman serious? His article reads like satire. Gosh, what would Israel do without the Holocaust denying terrorist chieftain? We'll sure miss him. NOT!
15. Prisoner of War status
Ian ,   Newcastle upon Tyne   (03.02.12)
If the Arab detainees are declared to be POWs,who loses?It'll be possible to detain them until all hostility ceases...even those who might have been released soon. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!
16. Maybe a bit of annexation....
Ian ,   Newcastle upon Tyne   (03.02.12)
...will help to concentrate Abbas's mind. THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!
17. C'mon, with all due respect....
Buskila ,   South America   (03.02.12)
This Article is breaking all the records, if there were one, of Wishy Washy analysis of a concrete geo-political situation. The presumptions are too far fetched for being considered as realistic: take the supposition that Fatah will at any stage relinquish the gornance of the Territory, its like telling a sick man 'we are going to retreat from giving you a treatment that might, but will, save your life'. Mr. Obama is at the moment, too involved trying to justify his own political survival, even, if and when he might be having a shot at re-election for the Second Mandate, the poor economical and social upheaval that will result from such eventuality will keep him tight to local affairs, and then to the imasculation of the American authority in the world.
18. To: No. 5
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (03.02.12)
Abbas the head of the ersatz "Palestine" Authority is a terrorist whose hands are soaked in Jewish blood. Besides, the ersatz "Palestinians" have been on the losing side of six wars, all of which were started by the Arabs. You are a vanquished people. You get whatever crumbs Israel generously may decide to throw your way. The last time an offer of a two-state solution was made by Israel -- one, by the way, which would have given the ersatz "Palestinians" 95% of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a capital -- you chose to start the second intifada instead. How is Israel responsible for such incredibly bad choices, and why do you deserve a seventh, eighth or ninth bite at the apple, anyway? You lost. It's over. Go away.
19. To: No. 12
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (03.02.12)
Where do you come from? The Hejaz in the Western Arabian desert? Syria? Lebanon? Iraq? Egypt? There was a Kingdom of Judah and a Kingdom of Israel before the word "Arab" even came into being. So just go back to wherever on earth it is you came from; it CERTAINLY is not Israel.
20. Israelis dont want peace
Samer ,   West Bank   (03.03.12)
The Israelis have made their choice and they chose settlements whose sole purpose is to deprive the Palestinians of an independent state and to eventually ethnically cleanse all the Palestinians from the West Bank. We will never have peace with the Israelis because they prefer their settlements over peace.
21. To: No.13 and 18
Ziad-Palestine ,   Canada   (03.03.12)
To No. 13, for your information Palestinians Authority control just 3% of the West Bank! So I suggest you to read more about what is going on there instead of broadcasts such ideas. Sarah, your comments are full of hate! I have no comments to reply, just I will pray for your to get rid of this hate from your heart.
22. Sarah B
Marcelo ,   São Paulo - Brasil   (03.03.12)
LOL Sarah B is the best...so right wing that I always laugh, so politically incorrect, but still very truthfull...there is no win win situation as leftists might dream about.Physics once declared that 2 bodies cannot occupy the same space.The law of Physics is the law of this conflict, therefor since one side must be reckoned as the winner of the conflict, I have no other choice than to be with the DEMOCRATIC one, wich in this case is Yisrael!Shalom!
23. Israel frustrated from the peacefull attitude of Abbas
Sabra   (03.03.12)
dreams can pass to reality faster and internationally better with with Hamas ,
24. To No 9 ..are you sure you know Abbas??!!
Sabra   (03.03.12)
he is the only leader in the region with one face ...he struggles for a negotiated peace without any sort of violence ...he expressed himself and proved it on the ground. but for him and for Pestinians it was with ZERO results
25. #24. What do you call your alternate universe?
Chaim ,   Israel   (03.03.12)
#24. You talk of Abbas "struggles for a negotiated peace...". Are we talking about Abbas the Holocaust Denier? Are we talking about Abbas whose PA TV broadcasts genocidal calls against Israel every day? Are we talking about the same Abbas who praises murderous terrorists all the time? Sabra, what do you call your alternate universe?
26. #21
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (03.03.12)
That 3% happens to be OUR land. You do not have one single legal claim to any of it. We already gave up 77.5% of our lands to you Arab thieves. Why is 99.93% of the Middle East not enough for you racist thieves?
27. Israel what?
Denis MacEoin ,   Newcastle, UK   (03.03.12)
Samer, Why do you prefer myth over fact? For over 63 years, Israeli has offered peace on generous terms to every Palestinian leadership, and not once has any Palestinian reached out a hand to shake on it. Hamas declares all peace talks and negotiations unacceptable. The Fatah Constitution does the same. Hezbollah's risala maftuha flatly turns down any compromise. The Khartoum Declaration of the Arab League stated three Nos: No peace, No negotaitions, no compromise. Who can the Israelis go to for peace. Arafat walked out of the Camp David talks in 2000 and started the second intifada, even though the Israelis had made the most generous offer in human history. While he was alive, there was no hope of going further. Mahmoud Abbas is no better. He has stated that any future single state would be closed to Jews. He says one thing in Arabic, another in English. So how can Israelis trust him with their lives? Israelis want peace because they want to get on with their generally productive lives. But they won't everything away recklessly, despite what the Palestinians may want. Until Palestinians, Iranians, the Arabs in general, and other countries come round to the reality of this problem and learn to behave in a civilized manner, conducting their international affairs with a measure of generosity and reciprocity, abandoning terrorism, abandoning the culture of lies and defamation about Israel, and accepting that they can't have everything, there will be no peace. That will not be Israel's faut – how could it be? What we have recently seen in Yunisia, Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria shows how far the Arabs are from managing international, let alone national, affairs. You have to come out of your tribalism, provincialism, and selfishness if you are to take part in the affairs of great nations.
28. Mahmoud 'Abbas
Denis MacEoin ,   Newcastle UK   (03.03.12)
Sabra, Your comment is one of the daftest I have ever read. Abbas has never made a sincere move for peace in his life. He is well known for his duplicity: he says one thing in English and contradicts it when speaking to the Arab street in Arabic. He is a one-state man all the way through, and a month or two ago stood up to say that no Jew would be allowed to live in the future Palestine, a Palestine which – if you look at any Palestinian map of the region – covers the West Bank, Gaza,. and the whole of Israel. He's not special, he's just a tired Palestinian leader who can't let go of the past, even for the sake of the future, who lets Palestinian children be trained to become suicide bombers. And then he will cry 'Oh, the Israelis are oppressing our rights!' As if.
29. #21 You still haven't told us what peace is
Sam ,   Canada   (03.04.12)
Palestinians bash and criticize Israel but they can't tell us what peace is for Palestinians. It's clear for Israel and everyone else that peace means a Palestinian majority Palestine and a Jewish majority Israel. The Palestinians reject living next to a Jewish majority Israel. They have nothing to offer in the way of peace. They just complain and tell everyone what they want for themselves.
30. to 17
(03.04.12)
so he may eat the all of the sandwishe but may be poisonouse
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