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Why Palestinians Cannot Resume Peace Talks with Israel

(Gatestone Institute) Bassam Tawil - The Palestinian campaign to vilify Israel and demonize Jews, as manifested in the rhetoric of their leaders and the Palestinian media, mosques and schools, has made it impossible for any Palestinian leader to seek a negotiated and peaceful settlement with Israel. A Palestinian leader who repeatedly condemns a visit by Jews to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest site, as a "violent storming of the al-Aqsa Mosque," can never agree to sit at the same negotiating table with Jews. These leaders have radicalized their people against Israel and Jews. If you tell your people that the Israelis are perpetrating "war crimes," "desecrating mosques" and "stealing land," what will the Palestinians think of you when they see you sitting with an Israeli? Recently, a group of Palestinian clan leaders and businessmen who were invited to an iftar (Ramadan fast-breaking meal) with Jews, received threats and were accused by many Palestinians of treason. Many Palestinians see no difference between a Jew living in a Jewish community in the West Bank and a Jew living in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. For them, all Jews are foreigners who have no right ever to live there. The Palestinians still have not come to terms with Israel's right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people, or as a place for anyone other than Muslims. Palestinian leaders will never agree to a "negotiated two-state solution" with Israel as long as the message they are sending to the Palestinians says that Jews have no right to their own homeland. The belief that Palestinian leaders may soon resume the "peace process" with Israel indicates self-deception and wishful thinking.
2023-04-20 00:00:00
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