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If Only the Palestinian Leadership Really Wished for Peace
(The Australian) Alex Ryvchin - The petulant refusal of the Palestinian leadership to even consider a proposal intended to offer ordinary Palestinians an alternative to war, conflict and victimhood is impeccably consistent with earlier Palestinian responses to international efforts aimed at giving them statehood. Palestinian unionist Majdi Shella admitted the Palestinians "have a long tradition of boycotting everything. Sometimes boycotting is the easier road. If you want to do nothing, boycott." The Palestinians have refined their instinct for rejection and political self-immolation to such an extent that they appear to know no other path. This is why Palestinian rioters destroyed greenhouses left to them by the Israelis following the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. This is why last year Palestinians in Gaza set fire to the Kerem Shalom border crossing through which medicine, aid and consumer products intended for the Palestinians are transferred. The writer is co-Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.