I had hoped to devote this post exclusively to the issue of a proposed “two-state solution.” There is a vast amount of misinformation floating with regard to this that is being embraced as truth. What is more, Biden’s arm-twisting to get Netanyahu to accept his plan is both infuriating and seriously out of line, and now we see that the EU is making threats as well.
And so, please, read this post carefully, and share it broadly. Draw on it for discussions, letters to the editor, social media.
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That said, I must stop to note the very painful deaths yesterday of 21 of our reserve soldiers in southern Gaza. Our nation is shaken by this loss of precious life.
The incident occurred 600 meters from the Israeli border, as Israeli forces were working on clearing Hamas buildings to establish a buffer zone. Terrorists fired anti-tank missiles at buildings where explosives had been placed by our soldiers in order to destroy them in a controlled event. Dozens of soldiers were still inside the buildings or nearby when two buildings then exploded and collapsed.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/384027
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Along with expressions of grief and words of comfort for the families, members of our government have expressed determination that they will not have died in vain and that we will see this to a victorious end.
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For some three years, we have been hearing statements from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking for the Biden administration, regarding the need to establish a Palestinian state.
The intended goal is a “two-state-solution,” and Blinken’s oft-repeated theme has been that “Israelis and Palestinians should enjoy equal measures of freedom, security, prosperity and democracy.”
The onus, as he has structured the equation, has been on Israel: If only Israel cooperated in the establishment of that “two-state-solution” then Palestinians Arabs would ipso facto secure measures of “freedom, security, prosperity and democracy” equivalent to those enjoyed in Israel.
The logical failure of this proposition – which points to a western inability to understand Palestinian Arab culture and history – is glaring. Democracy, to take one example, is not a value broadly embraced in the Arab world, and governance by the Palestinian Authority has been devoid of the primary benchmarks of democracy: a pluralistic political system; a free electoral process; independent media; and preservation of civil liberties.
Mahmoud Abbas was elected in January 2005, to serve as PA president until January 2009. In December 2009, he was voted into office indefinitely by the PLO Central Council; he has remained in office without benefit of popular presidential elections for 15 years. The last elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council were held in 2006; legislative elections scheduled for 2021 were indefinitely postponed.
The notion that the act of elevating the corrupt and authoritarian Palestinian Authority to the status of a state would suddenly imbue it with the characteristics of a democracy, as well as instilling within it the attributes necessary for prosperity, is absurd.
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Today, the stakes are higher than they were three years ago because Israel is presently in process of eliminating Hamas rule in Gaza. The Americans view this as an opportunity to bring the PA back into that region: Hamas drove Fatah, the controlling party of the PA, out of Gaza in 2007. The US hopes to establish a unified Palestinian state in Judea & Samaria and Gaza, paving the way more completely for that “two-state-solution” with Israel.
Blinken adjures Israel to “keep hope of a Palestinian state alive.” But at this point the Americans are prepared to acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority as it presently functions will be seen wanting. And so, now he speaks about a “renewed and revitalized” Palestinian Authority.
The US, says the secretary, wants a reformed Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza once the war is over. On January 10, he met with Abbas in Ramallah and pressed him on the matter. Following this meeting, Blinken announced that he had discussed with Abbas “the importance of reforming the Palestinian Authority…He’s prepared to move forward and engage in all of these efforts.”
https://www.barrons.com/news/blinken-says-abbas-committed-to-palestinian-reform-f0b0628d
Unfortunately, he did not elucidate what “efforts” he was referring to, other than to refer in oblique terms to a commitment by Abbas to deliver “effective governance.” I will suggest, however, that securing a commitment from an ageing, corrupt, terror-supporting autocrat would hardly provide reassurance that meaningful changes are about to be made. There may be changes, but they will be cosmetic – not seriously altering the nature of the Palestinian Authority
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The Western world – the US and the EU most notably – whole-heartedly embrace the notion that the Palestinian Arabs long to have a state of their own, next to the State of Israel. But they are viewing the situation through their western eyes.
Traditional Arab culture does not define identity according to citizenship in a state, but rather according to family associations: the clan (hamula). It was customary for Palestinian Arabs (as other Arabs) to identify first with the hamula and even today this is often where their primary loyalty lies.
With regard to western political solutions, indications are that Palestinian Arabs are disenchanted with that “two-state” notion. According to the Washington Institute in 2021, less than 40% of the population supports this approach. A majority prefers to “reclaim all of historic Palestine, including pre-1967 Israel.” As we examine the genesis and history of the PA, below, we will better understand what underlies this attitude. But I note here that when the Washington Institute refers to “historic Palestine,” it is not referring to land that belonged to Palestinian Arabs; they never possessed this land. What is today Greater Israel was, prior to Israeli independence in 1948, referred to as Palestine — this was the land of the Mandate for Palestinian (which called for a Jewish homeland).
That leaders of the Palestinian Authority reject a “two-state-solution” is made eminently clear when we see the official PA logo:
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Had the leaders of the PA truly been seeking a state next to Israel, they could have had it:
In 2008, then prime minister Ehud Olmert offered Yasser Arafat 94% of Judea & Samaria (aka the West Bank) and all of Gaza. To compensate for the roughly 6% of Judea & Samaria retained by Israel, close to 6% of land inside of Israel would be transferred to the Palestinian state. Safe passage between Gaza and Judea & Samaria would be created to provide contiguity of the State of Palestine.
Arafat refused and later Olmert wrote: “To this day, I cannot understand why the Palestinian leadership did not accept the far-reaching and unprecedented proposal I offered them.”
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ehud-olmert-s-peace-offer#
It has been suggested that the catch for Arafat was the requirement that he sign an “end of conflict” agreement.
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The Palestinian Authority is a terrorist organization. That Mahmoud Abbas is a terrorist is supported by considerable evidence. He was a protégé of Yasser Arafat, funded the Munich Olympic massacre, vigorously supports his pay-for-slay program, incites against Israel, and routinely honors terrorists from the past. Most recently, he refused to condemn the Hamas massacre of October 7, and has added Hamas terrorists who have died or are imprisoned to his pay-for-slay program.
https://palwatch.org/page/34924
The difference between Abbas and Arafat is largely cosmetic: Arafat sported a keffiyeh and packed a pistol; Abbas wears a suit and tie. Underneath the suit jacket Abbas wears beats the heart of a terrorist.
Following the Hamas massacre, PA leadership – notably Jibil Rajoub — called to Hamas and PIJ to join with them. Hamas is part of the fabric of our struggle, they declared.
https://palwatch.org/page/34904
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One is called to ask, what is Blinken thinking? Is it possible that he does he not know about the statements of Rajoub and others who speak for the PA? Or does he not care?
It would be a grievous mistake to assume that if some of the terrorist-supporting leaders were replaced, a “reformed” PA that would be moderate would emerge!! For terrorist sentiments, hatred of Israel, are ingrained in a good part of the population of the PA:
Marcus Sheff, the CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education. Under discussion are the startling results a recent survey that indicates that 86% of the Arabs of the Palestinian Authority support what was done during the October 7 massacre. And 98% of these Arabs feel more pride since the massacre.
Marcus attributes these attitudes to the education young people have received for generations now via UNRWA, which supplies textbooks and curricula. The young people of the PA receive the same education as the students of Hamas. Thus are their violent, hateful attitudes towards Israel the same. Thus are they similarly encouraged to act with extreme violence towards the Jews of Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlgFvSXJBXc
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When polls are taken among residents of the PA, regarding whom they would prefer to see replace Abbas in due course, Marwan Barghouti’s name is mentioned frequently. He is greatly popular among the people. But Marwan Barghouti was an instigator of the second intifada and is in Israeli prison for life for the terrorist murder of five Israelis.
Note it well: this is who the people would choose to lead them.
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It is not sufficient to examine the stance of the Palestinian Authority, as deplorable as it is. We must go back further and trace its history, for the PA is an administrative entity (which was supposed to be interim) established under the umbrella of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) at the time of the Oslo Accords.
The PLO, for its part, was established in 1964, at a summit of the Arab League. The main impetus came from Egypt’s president, Gamal Nasser. Its first chairman was Ahmad Shuqeiri, a Nasser protégé. What many people do not know is that Yasser Arafat, who followed as chairman, was also Egyptian.
The PLO is a coalition organization heavily dominated by Fatah, which is the political base of Mahmoud Abbas. Declaring itself the representative of all Palestinian Arabs, it, in fact, was not founded out of concern for the rights of Palestinian Arabs but rather in order to utilize this ostensible concern to weaken Israel: land controlled by Israel had to be “liberated.”
The original PLO charter was drafted in 1964. It was revised in 1968. There is a prevailing myth that the PLO again revised its charter in accordance with Oslo agreements. In point of fact, it was never revised again. A committee was empowered to make changes, but it was never convened, and changes were never made.
The 1968 version of the Charter stands. It includes the following:
[] Palestine, with the boundaries it had during British Mandate, is an indivisible unit that belongs to the Palestinian Arab people.
[] The Palestinian Arab people has a right to their homeland.
[] Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine.
Please note that violence against Israel is endorsed and there is no mention of sharing the land.
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After Israel won the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the PLO recognized that it would not be able to fully defeat Israel via overt attack. Thus, in June 1974, in Cairo, it adopted a new strategy: The Phased Plan.
Put simply, it advocates weakening Israel in stages towards the goal of full liberation. Armed struggle is still a primary approach, but for the first time diplomatic means would also be utilized. Thus was it acceptable to negotiate the Oslo Accords, because this brought in a Palestinian Arab presence (starting with Gaza and Jericho), that had the effect of weakening Israel.
The import of this cannot be over-emphasized. Arafat was not sincere when signing on Oslo and his goal certainly was not peace.
Shortly after the Oslo Accords were signed, Arafat spoke in S. Africa and was recorded without his knowledge. Don’t be discouraged, that I signed this, he told his followers:
“This agreement. I am not considering it more than the agreement which had been signed between our Prophet Mohammad and Quraysh.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/365095
Mohammed had negotiated a ten-year peace treaty with the Quraysh tribe in Mecca because he was not strong enough to defeat them. Trusting him, they let down their defenses. Meanwhile Mohammed strengthened his forces and went in and massacred them once he was able to do so.
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The implications of this are enormous: In furtherance of the interests of Islam, it is considered acceptable to be deceptive in certain circumstances. This was modelled by Mohammed, and it is especially true when dealing with infidels (non-Muslims). There is a term in Islam, tawriya, which means creating a false impression.
There is not one single agreement struck between Israel and the PA that has been honored by the PA. A key example is the requirement to act against terrorism written into the Oslo Accords.
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One other provision within Resolution of the Phased Plan merits attention here:
“The Liberation Organization will struggle against any proposal for a Palestinian entity the price of which is recognition, peace, secure frontiers….and the deprival of our people of their right…to self determination.”
In other words, the PLO may cooperate with regard to interim agreements that weaken Israel but will never sign off on a permanent agreement that would prevent Palestinian Arabs from securing all of the land.
Thus did Arafat decline to accept what Olmert offered him. And thus will any proposals for a “two-state-solution” be unacceptable to the PLO as a final agreement because it would allow Israel to retain land.
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I cannot explain the position of Blinken and Biden, or the EU, with regard to their persistence in pushing that “two-state” plan. I don’t know if they are willfully blind, insisting on something they have convinced themselves would bring peace. What I do know is that their eyes are closed to the evidence of what a disaster this would be.
But our eyes here in Israel are most certainly not closed (excepting a minority on the left, which bewilders me no less than Blinken does).
And our answer is clear: NO and NO again. The PA will not be brought into Gaza when we have defeated Hamas. And we will not agree to work on a “two-state-solution.” It is no solution at all.
(I will return to discuss possible solutions for Gaza post-Hamas.)
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Keep praying to Heaven for Israel, my friends. Pray for the strength and wisdom of our leaders, for the safety of our boys, and for the rescue of our hostages. Pray with a heart filled with hope.
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
