While it’s true the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, their “friends” don’t do them any favors either. From the conspiracy theorists ranting about the “Israel Lobby” to “peace studies” intellectuals who inevitably turn out to be vicious anti-Semites to the proudly ignorant activists who debase the Civil Rights movement and the struggle against South African apartheid by using those terms in vain, pro-Palestinian advocates have been manifestly unable to mount a serious intellectual argument for their cause. And failed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad seems to know it.
Reuters interviewed the hapless technocrat, and he couched his failure in terms more sensible than his allies ever offer:
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday the Palestinians may have “lost the argument” on the international stage for an independent state but cautioned that continued Israeli occupation was unsustainable….
He also warned his administration’s future was clouded by severe financial strains and said the Palestinians had failed to galvanize a distracted world behind their cause.
“I think we are losing the argument, if we have not already lost the argument. But that doesn’t make our position wrong,” said the former World Bank economist, a political independent who has had strong support amongst Western powers.
Yes, they are losing the argument, and have been for quite some time. Statehood in the real world is not something you’re granted for pitching a fit and kicking dirt at the United Nations. The toxic mix of cowards and criminals who make up the “flotilla” movement won’t convince anyone you’re ready to be treated like a responsible actor on the world stage. And brainwashing young minds to hate your “peace partners” isn’t the strongest case for independence.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which exists to keep poor Palestinians penned up in refugee camps to radicalize instead of educate them, has contributed its own acid to the steady corrosion of the prospects for a peaceful settlement. And never permitting, let alone encouraging, a sense of moral responsibility on the part of the Palestinians is the opposite of being pro-Palestinian–it shows, as Bret Stephens pointed out in his review of Peter Beinart’s new book, “an unwitting, but profound, contempt” for the Palestinians by assigning them “no moral agency.”
Fayyad seems to understand that a myopic focus on Israel keeps people talking about Israel. But it would behoove the Palestinians and their defenders to talk a bit about the Palestinians and their cause. Is there a case for Palestinian statehood? I’m sure there is, but Fayyad may now understand that the global left cannot be relied upon to make it.
Fayyad admits and laments that his made up people do not have the attributes of a real culture (other than an identity based on genocide, of being the anti-Israel, bizarro-world Israel), and blames Palestinian supporters for not helping them out of the ethical, logical, and legal hole they find themselves in. n nBoo-f**kin'-hoo. Let them wait for Jordan to open up, as it surely will when the illegitimate Hashemite-British 'king' departs the stage (one way or another).
Fayyad admits and laments that his made up people do not have the attributes of a real culture (other than an identity based on genocide, of being the anti-Israel, bizarro-world Israel), and blames Palestinian supporters for not helping them out of the ethical, logical, and legal hole they find themselves in.
I would like to point out that in 1967 when the Palestinians wanted to create a state where both Jews and Muslims could have equal political and civil rights, the Israelis turned them down, accepted a UN plan, and then blatantly ignored it by marching into Palestinian towns and massacre-ing thousands of civilians. n nIt should also be noted, if you are going to take the but-the-Bible-says-that-the-Jews-were-there-before-the-Arabs-2000-years-ago defense, that when the Jews themselves arrived in Palestine there were already a people there called the Canaanites. And it is by no accident that "Canaan" is such a common Palestinian surname. n nAnd regardless of what Jews have suffered, that does not ever make it acceptable to subject other civilians to similar suffering. n nI don't understand what you mean by a "real culture," because I'm pretty sure a unique cuisine, mannerisms, and language would cover it. n nIsrael thrives, but illegitimately.
It's about time that the so called leaders of the Palestinians ,that are living in luxury in Syria, admitted that the violence they and their supporters use to gain headlines,are not going to earn them votes.Even in the far left packed UN.In fact ,I would dare say that the UN is one of the main reasons people don't vote for the Palestinians.The left has packed all the committees and human rights agencies,with far left radicals.Their world survives on hate.The normal people of this earth can see straight through their rhetoric to their agenda. Israel has been so patient with the UN and their thugs,that I for one applaud them.Well done Israel.
Re "which exists to keep poor Palestinians penned up in refugee camps to radicalize instead of educate them". This is factually wrong because these Palestinian settlements are not "camps" and the Palestinians are not "penned up". They are settlements (and not camps) because they are districts of various cities (e.g. Bethlehem) with sewers, schools, electricity, etc. In Gaza, West Bank, and Jordan, Palestinians with the money and desire can move to wherever they like. 80-58% are not refugees because they were born where they live. As an aside, one can ask why it is UNRWA rather than the Palestinian Authority who runs the schools. The probable answer is to mislead people into thinking these Palestinians are refugees living in camps.
Yeh maybe, but go see the Balata camp in Nablus and how the PA cordons off the ghetto.
This piece could not be more distorted and antagonistic, while dismissing very important facts. The argument for a Palestinian state is made not only by our leaders but by international organizations who are more objective than this writer. The reports from the World Bank and The International Monitory Fund have stated clearly the Palestinians readiness for a statehood, after spending tremendous efforts in state building, supporting the economy and improving public services. Those reports highlighted that the continued occupation is the main obstacle to Palestinian efforts, and that economic prosperity is unsustainable because of the Israeli policies. That’s what Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stressed on by saying “the Israelis have managed to successfully trivialise our side of the argument.” Worth reminding you that more than 130 country around the world recognized the Palestinian State, and this not an indication that the Palestinians did not have a strong argument for their independence. True that the Palestinian cause isn’t not on the top of the international agenda recently, between all the causes that are happening in the world, but that does not make our argument wrong, as the Prime Minister said.