Monday August 19, 2013

I've Been Thinking:

On Sunday the Executive Committee of The PLO met in Ramallah. The Executive Committee is the most significant and authoritative group of leader in the PLO. They were briefed on the progress of Israel-Palestinian-US talks.

The official responses issued by the Committee after the briefing is shocking. All they could focus on was Israel's decision to build 1200 apartments, mostly in Jerusalem.

Here are several salient comments:
"War crimes, anti-human, racist acts and violations of international laws."

"The PLO Executive Committee considers the unprecedented settler decisions which were announced by the occupation government as conclusive proof that Israel's first and last option remains expansionism, Judaization and theft of Palestinian land, and not ending occupation and implementing the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders."

"We hold the US administration responsible for stopping these Israeli war crimes and attempts to foil the peace process."

"The last settlement steps contradict assurances that the Palestinian Authority received during preparatory talks for launching the negotiations."

"Israel's practices will prompt the Palestinian leadership to demand the intervention of international courts and institutions against these war crimes, racist acts and violations of all international laws and conventions."

The Executive Committee went so far as to call the settlement activity "ethnic cleansing."

Exaggerated use of language is common in the Middle East. But this time exaggerated language is taken to the extreme. These statements by Palestinian leadership are truly extreme. And they are simply not true.

It is hard to imagine how any real resolution can emerge when this kind of vitriol is being spewed by Palestinian leadership in official meetings. The situation is truly out of control.

Who is going to pave the road to coexistence?

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