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Palestinian Diplomacy, Lost at Sea

(Council on Foreign Relations) - Elliott Abrams PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to negotiate with Israel for nearly three years now. He thought he had an ace up his sleeve going to the UN instead, but that option has not panned out. American opposition and the lack of enthusiasm elsewhere (Europe, for example) doomed the effort in the Security Council. Initially, going to the General Assembly to raise the PLO's status to "non-member state" observer could have been claimed as a real victory, but Palestinian diplomatic mismanagement ruined that. They talked it down instead of up, devaluing the only success available to them. The taste of victory at UNESCO was also bitter, for the Palestinians were quickly told - by friendly countries and by the UN system as well, which wants American dollars to keep flowing - not to try that again in any other UN agency. Abbas is now turning to "unity" talks with Hamas, at the cost of the resignation of PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. That would be another self-inflicted Palestinian wound, for the "unity" with Hamas will never last. And the loss of Fayyad will cost the PA plenty, for he is the only Palestinian official whom donors in Europe, the U.S., and the Arab oil producing countries trust.
2011-11-17 00:00:00
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