Israel Matzav

'Palestinians' won't let Beilin be more 'Palestinian' than they are

The late Yitzchak Rabin famously referred to Yossi Beilin, one of the chief architects of the Oslo disaster, as 'Peres' poodle.' Beilin continues to act like a blind follower of 'peace' by publishing a piece in Foreign Policy urging the PLO to disband the 'Palestinian Authority' in order to put pressure on Israel.

A declaration of the end of the Oslo process -- justified by the fact that the path to a permanent-status agreement is blocked -- is the most reasonable, nonviolent option for putting the subject back on the world's agenda, with the aim of renewing genuine efforts to reach a conclusive solution.

Dissolving the Palestinian Authority and returning daily control to Israel would be an action nobody could ignore. It is not at all similar to a demonstration in front of the Municipality of Ramallah, nor is it similar to appealing to the United Nations for member-state status. This is a step that only you can take, and a step that will demand a response.

I know how difficult it is. I know how many tens of thousands of people depend on the Palestinian Authority for their livelihoods. I am able to appreciate all that you and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have accomplished -- establishing Palestinian institutions, growing an economy in impossible conditions, and fostering security in the West Bank.

After all these endeavors, however, you still need to beg the government of Israel to release your money from customs, you still need to beg the Republicans in the U.S. Congress to transfer funds to the Palestinian Authority, and you still need to stand, day after day, before your Palestinian critics and explain why your political efforts are failing. Please don't let this be the way you end your political mission -- a mission that seeks to achieve Palestinian independence without the use of violence.

Do not hesitate for a moment! Do not accept the request of President Obama, who merely wants to be left undisturbed before election day. Do not let Prime Minister Netanyahu hide behind the fig leaf of the Palestinian Authority -- impose upon him, once again, the responsibility for the fate of 4 million Palestinians. Remain as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which will give you the authority to lead the political negotiations if and when they resume.

But for the sake of your own people, and for the sake of peace, you cannot let this farce continue.

It is possible, of course, that Oslo's demise will not be followed by the birth of more substantive peace talks. But if that occurs, then at least it will not be you -- the man who stood beside the cradle of the Oslo process -- who is responsible for failing to prevent the complete and utter distortion of that process by its Palestinian and Israeli opponents.

Aaron Lerner - a longtime Oslo opponent - is encouraged.

Beilin knew that he was selling snake oil. He allowed reporters to claim that the "Beilin-Abu Mazen Agreement" proved a deal could be made. This when those who went to the trouble to ask him point blank (including yours truly) about this got the honest answer that it left many of the hardest issues open by passing them off to committees to resolve.

So now what's going on?

Why the call to Abu Mazen?

In a way this is encouraging.

If this is the only trick left up his sleeve then this may indicate that the fantasy known as Oslo is truly running out of steam.

But even the 'Palestinians' aren't dumb enough to take Beilin's advice. They're not going to give up all that international funding.

Hana Amireh, member of the PLO Executive Committee, dismissed Beilin’s call, saying it would be tantamount to “political suicide.”

Amireh said the PA had a transitional role to bring the Palestinians to an independent state and achieve their rights.

A PA official in Ramallah said over the weekend that dissolving the PA was not not an option.

The official denied that Abbas had any plans to dismantle the PA because of the stalemate in the peace process.

Abbas is planning to send a letter to Netanyahu in the coming days that does not include such a threat, the official told The Jerusalem Post.

The letter, he added, would hold Israel fully responsible for the current stalemate because of its refusal to stop construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem neighborhoods and accept the pre-1967 lines as the future borders of a Palestinian state.

Abbas’s letter, which will be delivered to Netanyahu by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, will also demand the release of Palestinians who were imprisoned before the signing of the Oslo Accords nearly two decades ago, the official noted.

Amireh is right. Many 'Palestinians' would rather live in Israel than in a 'Palestinian state.' The 'Palestinian' masses aren't willing to starve themselves to pursue Beilin's holy grail of a 'Palestinian state' (or as Lerner calls it, Beilin's 'secular messianic vision'). And they would rather have food to put on their tables than starve for a 'Palestinian state.' And you thought the Israelis were the rational ones.

Labels: Abu Mazen, Palestinian Authority, Yossi Beilin

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:59 PM