Ken Berwitz
In anunprecedented statement Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyadal-Malki explicitly rejected the possibility of renewed direct negotiationswith Israel – ever.
While visitingJapan on Monday, Malki pledged to never again engage with Israel in directnegotiations towards a final settlement. “We will never go back and sit againin direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.” That is like the elder George Bush tellingus he’ll never eat broccoli again. Henever ate it in the first place, any more than Palestinian Arabs have eversincerely negotiated with Israel.
In what may havebeen a response to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin\’s statements on Monday to USAmbassador to the UN Samantha Power calling for a resumption of direct talkswith the PA, Malki both rejected the idea of an invitation to return to thenegotiating table and suggested that Islamic State (ISIS) may be poised to takeover Judea and Samaria. What is that supposed to mean? “We won\’t negotiate with Israel…oh, and we\’re about to be taken over by a different set of terrorists – who not even the most avid Jew hater could claim were being oppressed by Israel, and who most of the Arab world would welcome Israel vanquishing”? This is supposed to be a leverage point for the Palestinian Authority?
“If Daesh[ISIS] take advantage of lack of any brokers…then of course, they might comeand try to fill it,” explained Malki. “This is very dangerous.” Reread my comment from the last paragraph.
Malki referencedthe recent spike in Arab terrorism, expressing sympathy with young terroristsand the cause they represent. And how does this “sympathy” manifest itself? Keep reading.
“They areborn without any hope for the future…that\’s why sometimes they decide tosacrifice their lives even at the age of 15…for the better lives of the restof the Palestinians.” Palestinian Arab children are taught, from the day they are educable, that Israel must be obliterated, that all Jews – Israeli and non-Israeli both – must die, that becoming a shahid (martyr) is the greatest form of nobility, that their families will be rewarded for their martyrdom, and that plazas in Judea and Samaria, sporting events, etc. will be named after them. But that has nothing to do with their becoming terrorists? Yeah, ok, sure. That makes lots of sense.
