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Lawfare, Not Intifada, Expected If Peace Talks Collapse
(Reuters) Crispian Balmer - If Middle East peace talks collapse this month, the Palestinians are set to confront Israel on the diplomatic stage rather than in any popular uprising. Mohammed Shtayyeh, a senior member of Abbas' Fatah movement, said Monday that moves to join UN bodies would be carried out in "phases," suggesting the Palestinians would look to increase pressure on Israel and Washington in stages rather than in a single blitz. The last time a concerted peace push fell apart, in 2000, the second Palestinian Intifada lasted more than four years, killing more than 4,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis and wrecking the economy in Palestinian self-ruled areas. Ghassan Khatib, an academic at Birzeit University in the West Bank and a veteran observer of Palestinian affairs, said polls for his Jerusalem Media and Communications Center showed support for armed struggle stood at under 30% - its lowest level in 17 years. In 2001, 85% of Palestinians supported military operations against Israel. "The current leadership is not at all interested in resuming violence. What happened last time around was a big lesson for everyone," said Khatib. "We had three years without negotiations before this last attempt and I think we will simply go back to a similar situation. Life will continue more or less as it was."