After Annapolis -Efraim KarshArafat and Abu Mazen are warp and woof of the same fabric: dogmatic PLO veterans who have never eschewed their commitment to Israel's destruction and who have viewed the "peace process" as the continuation of their lifetime war by other means.
In reality, there is no fundamental difference between the goals of Hamas and the PLO vis-a-vis Israel: Neither accepts the Jewish state's right to exist and both are committed to its destruction.
To deny the depth of the PLO's commitment to Israel's destruction is the height of folly, and to imagine that it can be appeased through Israeli concessions is to play into its hands. Only when Palestinians reconcile themselves to the existence of the Jewish state and eschew their genocidal hopes will the inhabitants of the Holy Land, and the rest of the world, be able to look forward to a future less burdened by Arafats and their gory dreams.
Professor Efraim Karsh is Head of Mediterranean Studies at King's College, University of London.
(Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
1 comment:
One only has to look at the election of Hamas to know that the rank and file Palestinians are stilled filled with many who hope Israel will "go away". This will have to change if the Palestinians ever want a land of their own. They will not, whatever they choose to believe, be the only inhabitants of that area.
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