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Palestinian UN Vote Was a Calamity

(American Interest) Adam Garfinkle - Embedded in the UN General Assembly resolution on making Palestine an observer-status state are statements about borders and the status of Jerusalem that represent maximalist Palestinian positions. It specifies the borders of Palestine as those of the West Bank and Gaza before the June 1967 war. It also designates east Jerusalem as the capital of this state. This means that it will be harder for any future Palestinian leader to accept less than the UN resolution text has staked out. The same goes for Jerusalem. If these two issues are essentially taken off the table as items for discussion and compromise, it makes the ultimate prospect of a deal that much more remote. The simplest way to interpret PA motives here is to conclude that it isn't interested in a final peace settlement with Israel, but would rather pursue incremental tactical advances in a patient overall strategy aimed at first delegitimizing and ultimately destroying Israel. What the Palestinians have done is very likely to persuade ever more Israelis that they are not serious about peace. The writer is the editor of the American Interest.
2012-12-03 00:00:00
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