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We Palestinians Hold the Key to a Better Future

(Times of Israel) Bassem Eid - I am a proud Palestinian who grew up in a refugee camp. I want peace and prosperity for my people. I want an end to the misery and destruction. After 66 years of mistakes and missed opportunities, it is time for us Palestinians to create the conditions for peace and to work for a better future. It is time that we stopped pretending that we can destroy Israel or drive the Jews into the sea. It is time that we stopped listening to Muslim radicals or Arab regimes that use us to continue a pointless, destructive, and immoral war with Israel. In Gaza, our schools are controlled by Muslim fanatics who indoctrinate our children, and Hamas uses our civilians as human shields in a losing battle against Israel. In the West Bank, the only good jobs are with Israeli companies, and the BDS movement is doing its best to take those jobs away from us. Abbas runs a corrupt dictatorship that uses international funds to consolidate its own administration rather than to develop the Palestinian economy. In east Jerusalem, most Palestinians would prefer to live under Israeli rule than under PA rule. Despite what we tell ourselves, Israel is here to stay. What's more, it has a right to exist. It is the nation of the Jews but also a nation for Israeli Arabs who have better lives than Arabs anywhere in Arab countries. We must accept these facts and move on. The anti-Semitism promoted by Hamas, Fatah, and the BDS movement is not the answer for us Palestinians. We know that Israelis want to live in peace, and that the vast majority of Israelis are friendly and neighborly. We know that Egypt was able to secure a very favorable peace deal with Israel because Egypt agreed to accept Israel and to give up on violence. The writer is the founder and former director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group.
2016-03-08 00:00:00
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