A day after Israel defeated Hamas, the Biden administration and many American allies in Europe are talking about immediately resuming negotiations for Israel's victory over Hamas. Two-state solution for two people.
We cannot and do not want to see from 6,000 miles away that most Palestinians, including those in the West Bank, support Hamas and the atrocities it committed on October 7th.
According to Reuters, of Palestine's leading public opinion poll organization, The Palestine Policy Research Center has studied this issue. “Nearly three in four Palestinians believe that Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel was justified,” the report said, adding, “The ensuing war in Gaza has led to “Support for Islamist groups is increasing.”
A high-ranking leader within the Fatah party. ruled the Palestinian Authority We've been living this attitude for over 30 years. Djibril Rajoub, Secretary General of the Fatah Central Committee, said: praised Hamas Mr. Saleh al-Arouri, number 2 in a terrorist organization. al-Arouri, who masterminded a decade of terrorist attacks in the West Bank,An extraordinary leader.Rajoub added that he too is “one who believes in his ideology, his methods and his activities.” …his death [is] It is a loss for Fatah just as much as it is a loss for Hamas. ”
August, Al Arouri called for all-out war with Israel Shut down the economy and destroy ports, electricity and water systems. Less than two months had passed until October 7th.
“Hamas is part of our (Fattah) political and social structure and our struggle. … It is filled with the heroic deeds of the Palestinian people for 75 years,” Rajoub said. .
Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Palestine Liberation Organization All are operated by Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority. In principle, these three countries are working on a two-state solution that would include a Jewish state alongside an Arab state living in peace. UN resolution 181 Called in 1949.
But look at the chronology that Raju uses. It's been 75 years. It dates back to the birth of Israel, 1967 defensive war Israel then occupied the disputed territory. That was only 56 years ago. The Fatah official advocates a one-state solution without Israel, from river to sea.
In this war, and for generations to come, it is not only Hamas but also Fatah that is challenging Israel's right to exist. If this were a territorial issue, as those calling for an immediate return to bilateral negotiations, the conflict could have ended in 1949 or more recently in 2008. Israel gave 100 percent East Jerusalem as the capital of the West Bank and Palestine.
This is not about two nations for two peoples. The Palestinian version would turn Israel into a Jew, overwhelming or expelling Jews demographically, even within mainstream institutions. 23rd Arab nation.
If radical political Islam were to take over the Levant, America's national security interests would be upended. Even if Fatah wanted to create two states for two people, it would take at least a generation to undo the indoctrination in Palestinian schools, mosques, media, and political discourse of hatred against Jews. will do.
Two days after the October 7 massacre, a Fatah spokesperson thanked God for the massacre and for the “humiliating defeat of the Zionists” and said that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Fatah militia) He claimed that he was “fighting Hamas'' in a joint operations room with Hamas. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Remember, we in the West are told to differentiate between the secular Palestinian Authority and the Islamist Hamas.
Mr. Abu Muhammad, Spokesperson of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Fattah), Posted on Telegram two days after the massacre“Praise be to Allah who strengthened, supported, humiliated and defeated the Zionists…” [we are] We fought the remaining resistance forces in the battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” by the power of Allah…all over Palestine, from the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the occupation forces' invasion of our occupied territories. By the way, it's stopped. This is a revolution to victory. ”
a wall street journal editorial He stressed that in accordance with Palestinian Authority law, terrorists committed after October 7 will be compensated. The attacker, who called his home on October 7 and told his mother that he had “killed 10 Jews with his own hands,” was arrested under what the U.S. Congress calls a “pay for killing” program. I am in debt. The families of terrorists (martyrs in Palestinian Authority terminology) will receive $400 a month for the rest of their lives. Incarcerated terrorists can earn up to $3,300 a month. For comparison, the Palestinian Territories' gross domestic product per capita is less than $3,700 per year.
If Israel is brought back into negotiations prematurely, it will undermine the United States' ability to project power and influence in the Middle East. If Israel weakens, Saudi Arabia will also move Permanently Toward China and Iran. The risk of regional war will increase as Iran moves to cross the line into becoming a nuclear-weapon state.
The first thing to do after Hamas is destroyed is to transform the Palestinian education system into one modeled after the Gulf Arab states that have made peace with Israel. This should be done at the same time as rebuilding the infrastructure.as The Atlantic Council headline reads:“The UAE's education system promotes peace and religious tolerance. The rest of the world should follow suit.”
Second, the United States, as the largest funder of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), which provides humanitarian aid and education services, must advocate for change. If not, you will have to find another conduit for funding. UNWRA's policy of perpetuating this conflict by counting descendants of refugees as full-fledged refugees must end. Descendants of refugees should treat them in the same way that the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) treats them, by working to obtain permanent residence and citizenship in the countries where they have lived for generations. They must be treated like all other refugees around the world.
“Resettlement allows refugees to move to another country that agrees to grant them legal status that guarantees international protection and, ultimately, permanent residence,” UNHCR's website states. ” is stated.
Palestinians deserve a better life and leadership. But it will take a generation for them to lay the foundations for the rule of law and the freedom to speak without restriction. tortured as a collaborator Because we want to live peacefully next to our Jewish neighbors.
Before this culture of demagoguery is eliminated, premature moves toward a two-state solution will only lead to an impasse.
Eric R. Mandel is director of the Middle East Political Information Network and senior security editor at Jerusalem Report.
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