Abba Eban famously said that the Palestinian people never fail to miss an opportunity. Unfortunately, for the Palestinians and all the people of the Middle East, Mr. Eban continues to be right.
The latest Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip is an unfolding human tragedy and the people who will suffer the most are average Palestinians. The biggest reason for the incursion remains the Palestinians refusal to accept the existence of the state of Israel in the Middle East. Until this acceptance takes place, there will never be peace in the region and little if any hope of a normal existence for the majority of the Palestinian people.
Last summer, Israel staged an historic unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In essence, Israel was telling the Palestinians they could have control over Gaza and run their own lives. It was potentially the precursor to a Palestinian state in Gaza and most of the West Bank with future negotiations possible.
In the 10 months since the withdrawal, the Palestinians have done precious little nation building. Instead of using international aide to construct schools and business zones, the Palestinians have used Gaza as a launching pad for firing rockets into Israel. Note that these rockets are not fired into the West Bank but into Israel's internationally recognized pre-1967 borders. The message is clear: Palestinian militant groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades do not recognize Israel at all. They are not just seeking to form a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They are still seeking the destruction of Israel in its entirety, including Tel Aviv and all of Jerusalem; everything from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. When militant groups talk about the end of the 'occupation' they mean Tel Aviv just as much as they mean Hebron.
The rocket fire started almost immediately after the Israeli withdrawal was carried out last summer. It has yet to cease. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed his opposition to the rockets but lacks the popular support to stop them without initiating a civil war. Hamas considers the rockets part of their 'resistance' to Israel's existence and tacitly if not actively supports the militants firing rockets at the homes and schools of Israeli civilians.
The Israeli government in Jerusalem had no choice but to take some action to stop the constant rocket fire. Last week, a rocket traveled seven miles from Gaza and landed in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. If Palestinian rockets have that kind of range, 200,000 Israelis would be under the constant threat of attack. No government can allow its citizens to face that kind of peril from a hostile enemy and remain passive. The kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit, which also took place inside of Israel and not in Gaza or the West Bank, provided the Israeli government a pretext to dismantle some of Gaza's terrorist infrastructure.
Unfortunately, the Palestinian people suffer the most as a result. Once again, they have failed to meet an opportunity because they have failed to accept the existence of Israel, a small Jewish state roughly the size of New Jersey, within a huge expanse of Muslim states surrounding it.
In 1948, the Palestinians could have had a state much larger than anything they will be offered in the future in negotiations with Israel. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians were happy with the U.N.’s decision to divide Palestine. Israel accepted it. The Palestinians rejected the U.N's partition resolution and, along with six surrounding Arab nations, declared war. Israel won the War for Independence in 1948 and won later wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973 that ensured its survival.
In 2000, Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat all of the Gaza Strip and 95 percent of the West Bank to form a Palestinian state. Barak even offered to share Jerusalem and give Arafat control if not sovereignty over Muslim holy sites and to give Arafat part of Israel’s pre-1967 borders to make up for the territory Israel wanted to keep within the West Bank. Arafat's answer: no counter offer and the launching of the second intifada which resulted in four more years of needless bloodshed.
In 2005, Ariel Sharon left the Gaza Strip unilaterally. He expressed a willingness to negotiate further, although Sharon would never have given as much to the P.A. as Barak had offered. Just before this election, Sharon fell ill but his protégé, Ehud Olmert was elected Prime Minister of Israel earlier this year. Olmert ran on a platform that Israel would withdraw from most of the West Bank and separate from the Palestinians. The majority of Israelis approved of this concept.
However, instead of accepting this as a starting point for negotiations, the Palestinians responded by firing rockets into Israel and electing the militant group Hamas to lead their government. The rocket fire makes it almost impossible for Israel to agree to further withdrawals as Israelis cannot feel safe giving militants a closer area from which to launch rockets at Israeli population centers. Another lost opportunity and more bloodshed.
Until the Palestinian people are willing to accept the existence of Israel within the Middle East, peace will never be at hand. The Palestinians have been too willing to suffer as martyrs rather than to build a nation in the part of historic Palestine still available to them. The vast majority of Israelis have given up the dream of a 'greater Israel' which included all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel has returned all of the Sinai peninsula in exchange for a cold peace with Egypt, had left the Gaza Strip and expressed a willingness to negotiate the ‘return’ most of the West Bank including parts of East Jerusalem. Thus far, there have been no serious takers for this offer. The bloodshed continues.
Only when the majority of Palestinians give up the dream of recapturing all of historic Palestine and accept the concept of living side-by-side with Israel, the chance for a lasting peace will begin.
