Annapolis, was grate start for promising the Palestinians their long over due land. In fact to date was the 60th anniversary of such decision by the UN, Sixty years of war and peace talk and a few UN resolutions to that effect which the U.S. would not bother to enforce unlike the resolutions that would like to enforce.
Palestinians have come to conclusion that Israel and its supporters just talk for the sake of talking and do not wish to end this conflict. Notice I said Palestinians and NOT Mahmoud Abbas. They (Palestinians) have been toyed with not only by Israelis and Americans, but also by their own leaders, by other Arab countries, each for their own political reasons, and also by Islamic Republic of Iran.
If sixty years ago the UN told the Palestinians and the Israelis to go and negotiate a peace based on two state solutions, and sixty years later they are still at the exact same place that they were, what make them to do this now?
Does the Palestinian have something this time around to offer for the negotiation to go forward that they did not have for the last 60 years? Probably not.
Does the Israelis have more incentive to offer the Palestinian their statehood? Definitely yes.
The problem is that the Palestinians do not have anything to offer at the peace negotiation or anything that they could negotiate with, or any bargaining chip, except to say what they want. For instance if Israel would not give the lands before 1967, and say, we can only give you 90% of them, could the Palestinian counter offer and say okay will give you??? this??? and you give us the whole 100% of the 1967 land. No, they can not, since they do not have any chips to negotiate with. And because Palestinian believe, by virtue of their rights and a few UN resolutions to the idea that Palestine must have its 1967 boarders in order to say we have a just peace.
That is the essence of the problem. The Israelis has taken so much from the Palestinians that they have not left anything for negotiation. Then you might ask how this could be solved? As always most difficult problems have simple solutions;
That simple go back to 1967 boarders would solve most of the problems, except the older problem of the refugees, which goes back much further. That problem also should be look at in the most simple way, some ideas have already surfaced, compensation for those people and their family, in fact it should be a very generous compensation offer that they(refugees) can not refuse.
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Messiah On A Hill
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Still, al-Masri's conspicuous materialism may not play well among ordinary Palestinians, particularly the poor, religious camp-dwellers in Gaza. At a private meeting last week of the Forum's steering committee, a member in a crisp gray suit and Windsor knot wondered aloud how much support the movement could claim: "We need to put this to the polls." Al-Masri seemed frustrated with the impatience of his team. "Too early," he said, shutting off the debate. "Listen to me: we're going to put together a master plan—even for when you need to go to the toilet."
Al-Masri, who is 72, knows that Palestinian politics moves glacially—and rarely in the direction of progress. "I'm old for this," he says. "But I refuse to die before I see a real peace." He insists that the only solution to the current standoff is a unity government of the various factions. Then he sighs and steps past an antique tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl chest. "This is a catastrophe of a hobby," he says with a groan. "It drains you of money." Palestinian politics, he may soon learn, also has a way of draining even the most buoyant politician of his good fortune.
© 2007
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