Is it just me or does anyone else out there feel like when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict we have entered a time warp and gone back to the late 1980's?
After the Oslo Peace Process in which we allowed Arafat to return and set up his corrupt dictatorship and then 18 months later be "democratically" elected in order to legitimize it. After the Palestinian people had a final status peace offer in the summer of 2000, January 2001, and most recently in late 2007, all of them rejected. The last offer by former Prime Minister Olmert to Palestinian Authority President Abbas from all reports was the most generous offer yet and included 97% of the West Bank, Israeli land in exchange for the 3% that would be retained as well as East Jerusalem as their capital. Apparently Abbas rejected the offer because Olmert offered joint sovereignty over the Temple Mount. God forbid the Palestinians should actually recognize that the Jews have any link to the land. Lastly, after Israel, in a vain attempt to prove how sincere they were for peace withdrew from the northern West Bank and removed 8,500 settlers from the Gaza Strip. After Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip (let's not forget, after being democratically elected) and fired thousands of rockets and missiles at civilian targets in Israel all the while vowing to never stop fighting the Jewish State and one day wipe it off the map. All of this, by the way, ignored by the European Union and the US—at least until Israel finally started firing back in order to defend itself. Then they were able to resort to their traditional role of reacting by portraying Israel as the eternal aggressor and the Palestinians as the eternal victim.
Has it really gone full circle and become all about the settlements again? After everything that has happened because of and as a result of the peace process of the last 17 years is that really the conclusion that the US and Europe reached? It seems so hard to believe and yet, in reality that is what has happened. Especially when you look back at the past year—from President Obama's valiant, yet naïve effort to make "nice-nice" with the Muslim world and then the administration's demand that Israel freeze all settlement activity. Later on they realized that it was too much to ask and backed off a little, however it was too late. Abbas continues to this day to demand a total settlement freeze.
Abbas dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech in June which recognized the right of the Palestinian's to a state. He also refuses to take seriously Netanyahu's declaration of a 10 month building freeze in the West Bank.
Hmmm. More Palestinian intransience? Couldn't be. It must be about those pesky settlements.