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Kerry's Challenge: Empower the Right Palestinians
(New York Daily News) Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman - There is growing frustration on the Palestinian street about the PA's failure to deliver basic services. One of the most articulate critics is Sheikh Fard al-Jabari, responsible for 3,500 members of his clan in the South Hebron Hills. He charges that the PA represents no more than 5% of the West Bank population. Ever the pragmatist, he stated he wants to live in peace with his Jewish neighbors, yet if elections were held tomorrow, he would vote for Hamas. "At least they would take care of the basic social services that the PA has failed to deliver," Jabari lamented. Then there is the Palestinian mother of two martyred sons who recently said on PA TV that she grieves for that loss, but even more for her two daughters with university degrees whose aspirations for careers are being crushed by the PA's reign of economic incompetence and "crony capitalism." Want peace? Then we should empower those who want to live in peace, not cynical operators who treat the U.S. and EU as little more than gullible ATM machines. Cooper is associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, where Brackman is a consultant.