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Palestinians Dupe the West

(National Interest) Benny Morris - The Palestinians' current diplomatic campaign is aimed at achieving international recognition of statehood by September when, it is expected, the matter will be brought to a vote at the UN General Assembly. Yasser Arafat's strategy from the late 1980s, after he realized that he wasn't going to orchestrate the destruction of Israel, was to establish a Palestinian Arab state encompassing the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza, but without recognizing Israel or making peace with it. According to Palestinian strategy, the Israelis will eventually unilaterally withdraw, so why give the Israelis recognition and peace in exchange? Rather, once this mini-state is achieved, unfettered by any international obligations like a peace treaty - and having promised nothing in exchange for their statehood - the Palestinians will be free to continue their struggle against Israel, its complete demise being their ultimate target. On the military and political levels, no one will be able to fault the Palestinians. They will have broken no treaty and violated no solemn agreement. They will have received their mini-state, a launching pad for further assault on Israel, without giving anything in return.
2011-04-26 00:00:00
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