Israel Matzav

Abu Mazen marks the Naqba

The Associated Press is reporting that Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen marked the Naqba - the 'tragedy' - as the 'Palestinians' term Israel Independence Day, calling for the 'quartet' to convene an international conference in which both he and Israel would participate.

Interruption to clarify a couple of background points: May 15 is the day on the gregorian calendar on which Israel became independent, and therefore it is the day that the 'Palestinians' use to mark the 'Naqba.' The 'Palestinians' refer to Israel's creation as the 'Naqba' - the tragedy. And the demand for an 'international conference' - which would involve all of the Arab countries and at which most of those present would presumably gang up on Israel - goes back to the post-Six Day War Period.

"Let us sit down at the negotiating table, away from dictated solutions and away from unilateral steps," he said. He called on the "Quartet" of Mideast peacemakers - the US, European Union, United Nations and Russia - to convene an international conference to "realize the dream ... that will result in the creation of an independent free and democratic Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

Can someone please explain to me why pre-ordaining that the conference will result in "the creation of an independent free and democratic Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" is not a 'dictated solution'?

"Let's stop the pretext that there's no Palestinian partner," Abbas said. "The partner exists, and we extend our hand to you to make peace."

Abu Mazen was referring to himself as the 'partner' and foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev responded by saying that "No one can ignore the reality following the Palestinian election, substantive political power has moved to Hamas." Well, no one except Abu Mazen.

Abu Mazen called on Hamas to 'pursue the path of diplomacy and called on Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip to stop firing rockets at Israel. But he called on the international community not to punish the 'Palestinians' for their democratic choice:

"The situation as I see it requires the international community not to punish the Palestinian people for their democratic choice," he said. "I hope the salaries of tens of thousands of employees will come soon."

Let's just ignore the fact that the 'Palestinians' have chosen a terrorist organization to govern them. It's not that much different than Fatah anyway, right Abu?

The fact that Abu Mazen still sees the necessity of commemorating the Naqba (in those terms) speaks volumes as to his willingness to live with the State of Israel - let alone about Hamas' readiness to live with the Jewish state.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:21 PM