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Who Marginalized the Palestinians?

(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - For decades, the chattering classes have been working hard to teach us that the central issue of the Middle East region was not the Shia-Sunni conflict or the struggle for freedom by Arabs longing to rid themselves of autocratic monarchs or dictators. But in the past year, the main subjects of discussion have been the Arab Spring revolts and the debate over how best to stop the Iranian nuclear threat. The result is that the world is getting on with its business these days without obsessing about the Palestinians. All of which has left the Palestinians and their foreign cheerleaders mighty upset. Predictably, the Palestinians blame everyone but themselves. Yet if they want the answer, they need only look in the mirror. Having refused Israeli peace offers of a state including a share of Jerusalem three times from 2000 to 2008 and with the Palestinian Authority now allying itself with the Islamists of Hamas, the Palestinians have effectively painted themselves into a diplomatic corner. Even the Obama administration, which did more to tilt the diplomatic playing field in the Palestinians' favor than any of its predecessors, has seen all of its initiatives to push the Israelis to give in on Jerusalem, settlements and the 1967 borders rendered moot by the Palestinian refusal to negotiate.
2012-03-09 00:00:00
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