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PA Leader Contradicts "Common Knowledge" about Settlement Blocs

(Jerusalem Post) David Brinn - Along with a contingent of Jerusalem Post editors and reporters, I was in the Palestinian city of Jericho to meet with PA strongman Jibril Rajoub, who has been part of the Israeli-Palestinian landscape for decades. Gracious, hospitable and displaying fluency in English and Hebrew, Rajoub eloquently explained the Palestinian view. He also spoke of both sides having to make "painful concessions" before a lasting solution could be achieved. I asked him to expand on his "painful concessions" statement. Identifying myself as a resident of nearby Ma'aleh Adumim, I pointed out that the common wisdom is that all sides realized that the large settlement blocs like Ma'aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel would remain part of Israel in a two-state solution. Rajoub answered by raising his voice and saying absolutely not, all settlements were "a malignant cancer." If it is indeed common knowledge that the settlement blocs are a given in a final-status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, then Rajoub must have not received the memo. Given the opportunity to break away from the Palestinian intransigence of the past and acknowledge the inevitability of facts on the ground, Rajoub retreated to the tired slogans of the past. The writer is the managing editor of the Jerusalem Post.
2017-03-24 00:00:00
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