The Washington Post’s “On Faith” series included today two articles written on the “despair” of Israelis and Palestinians. Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, write:
“Yet what has been the reaction to Israel’s defense of itself against Hamas whose founding Charter cites the genocidal Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a blueprint for wiping the Jewish state from the map? Not sympathy for Israeli families living in hamlets and towns rendered unlivable by incessant bombardment. Not understanding for the survival imperative of defeating terrorism. Not praise for a military operation that, among other things, freed Fatah prisoners from probable execution in Hamas’ torture chambers. Instead, Israel suffers the fast-tracking by the United Nations of the so-called Goldstone Commission Report whose precooked conclusions condemn the Jewish state for “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes” while intentionally turning a blind eye to Hamas’ genocidal intent against Israel and its You Tube boasts of deploying women and children civilians as “human shields.” To add injury to insult, the UN and the anti-Israel chorus of NGOs remain mum as Hamas–with Iran’s help–sets the stage for the next conflict by rearming with missiles that can now easily reach Tel Aviv.”
The authors then unequivocally reject the notion that Israel would, in any way, hedge its security on negotiations, stating:
“Until Palestinians teach their children to respect the permanent and legitimate presence of their Jewish neighbors, no bullying from UN-approved kangaroo courts or arm twisting from “friends of peace” can create the facts on the ground for Israel’s (not so) silent majority to make any more of those one-sided “painful concessions for peace.””
Conversely, Dr. Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, writes:
“For them, the 16-year era of peace talks has meant 16 years of further occupation, settlement building and land confiscation, bitter disappointment and denial of basic human and national rights. In addition to Israel and the international community, ordinary Palestinians also blame their own leaderships — both Fatah and Hamas — for not reuniting after the violent split in 2007, and blame all parties for the ongoing human catastrophe caused by the siege of Gaza.
Under such circumstances, it should be readily understandable that the concept of a viable peace process now seems like a sick joke to so many Palestinians.
This is the political context in which the Palestinian leadership has to operate: an exceedingly skeptical public and international actors that don’t seem to comprehend the limitations of Palestinian patience.”
These comments, while nothing new, merely represent another instance where differing Israeli and Palestinian narratives color the peace process and place additional burdens on the possibility of any government to resolve the conflict.