Oddly, there are more concerns these days about Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to the peace process than the commitment of the Palestinians. Is it to be taken for granted, then, that the Palestinians – who elected Hamas to power prior to that terrorist group’s power-grab in the Gaza Strip – are more committed than Israel to peace? How about the Palestinian Authority, controlled by the Fatah faction – one of whose former officials, Muhammad Dahlan, recently advised the Hamas movement not to recognize Israel’s right to exist…because Fatah itself hasn’t done so?
The lion’s share of the burden of peace is almost always placed on the State of Israel. Why? Is it because Israel gave up land for peace, and received suicide bombers and rockets in return? Why, pray tell, aren’t as many questions – there should be a helluva lot more – being raised about the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to recognizing Israel and seeking peace? One would think if the Palestinian Authority leadership truly cared about the welfare of their people (more than their own power and prominence), they would have been able long ago to reach a lasting accord with Israel – which gave up land for peace with both Egypt and Jordan.
A disproportionate amount of blame is heaped on Israel for the peace process’s failure thus far, and yet, Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to reach a coalition deal with the Israeli Labor party by agreeing to uphold previous agreements with the Palestinians. If the Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah can’t come to an agreement based on a similar arrangement vis-a-vis Israel, it will be their hardline stance, and not any Israeli leader’s, that is the most responsible for further delays on the road to peace. In the past, Israel’s leaders have shown themselves to be true statesmen – worthy, willing and able to make sacrifices to end states of war.
The same cannot be said of the Palestinians’ leaders.
This is not mere opinion; this is a fact.
Why are Israel’s leaders alone judged by the world media, based on their commitment to peace? This gives a pass to past Palestinian intransigence, including surreptitious arms purchases from Iran (anyone remember the Karine-A incident?) and fanning the flames of anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli hatred on Palestinian Authority-run television stations. Are either Abbas’s Fatah or Haniyeh’s Hamas, which have yet to recognize Israel’s right to exist (a Phase One “Road Map to Peace” provision), to be considered partners for peace, while Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud – which concluded the peace treaty with former arch-enemy Egypt – aren’t?
Such a view smacks of the grossest sort of hypocrisy on the part of the international community. But then, when it comes to the conflict between the Israelis and the Arabs, this isn’t anything new, so we shouldn’t be surprised. Their stance has usually been thus: “When in doubt, blame the Jews and give their enemies the benefit of the doubt.” Nothing’s changed, and until it does, a bewildered world will have only itself to blame for the lack of peace between Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza. In fact, the mainstream media and international community are as much to blame for the absence of Israeli-Palestinian peace as the Palestinians themselves.
Publius Brutus Cato 