The Palestinian Hearing Problem
Maybe the noise from the mortars dropping on Israeli soldiers have the Palestinians a little hard of hearing, but they seem to have missed the point of Ehud Olmert's invitation to renew the peace process. Olmert invited the Palestinians, including Hamas, to Israel along with the leaders of the 22 Arab governments to discuss the Saudi proposal without preconditions -- but the Palestinians claim that Israel is "not ready":
"We are ready to come and to invite" Arab leaders "without preconditions from us or their side," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters Tuesday after arriving in Petra for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, expressing Israel's readiness to discuss the Arab peace initiative and find ways to implement the plan.Olmert later told a conference involving Nobel Laureates and Israeli and Arab youth on ways to solve conflicts in the Mideast that his country was "ready to sit down and talk about it carefully" and was willing to listen to Arab views.
"We heard about the Arab peace initiative and we say come and present it to us. You want to talk to us about it, we are ready to sit down and talk about it carefully," he told the conference in the ancient city.
The Palestinian response?
"I think it will take time before they meet again. The Israelis are not ready. All we've been told it that they are willing to prepare for the next meeting," Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said."The peace process is frozen, but what we are looking for is seeing a real serious step from the Israeli side to sit at the table to negotiate what the roads map and the Arab peace initiative are calling for," Rdeneh added.
Excuses, excuses. Olmert used the word "ready" in the positive more than once to describe Israel's openness to both the Road Map and the Saudi initiative. It sounds more like the Palestinians have no readiness to negotiate in good faith for a two-state solution. That is even more apparent than ever, as Hamas drops mortars outside the Karni crossing after their ambush this morning on the critical checkpoint.
All Olmert wants from Hamas is a pledge to abide by the Quartet's conditions, and he will welcome Hamas to the table. The Hamas terrorists cannot even pledge that much, which demonstrates -- again -- their uselessness as a partner for peace. The only peace Hamas wants is that of annihilation, and like all nutcases, they are more than willing to throw the lives of their own people on the pyre to get it or die trying..
Until the Palestinians themselves decide they want peace, Olmert and Israel can do nothing but continue to defend themselves against the nihilists in kaffiyehs. Whether the proposal comes from the Quartet, the Saudis, or the Jordanians, it will have no use while the Palestinians prefer death to life and murder to accommodation.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on May 15, 2007 6:47 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)
Comments (5)
Posted by TomB | May 15, 2007 7:26 AM
It could and should be a good lesson for all the hairy peacniks: You can't discuss compromise and peace after loosing a war.
Also, Olmet has to go. He lost a war.
Posted by Françoise Depelteau | May 15, 2007 9:03 AM
Palestine and Israel is the land of the cross. Where the ego and conditioning meet. To go beyond means to forgive and forget all the trespasses...See, there is no stones left unturned in it's heart. If that crossed heart could be opened it would reveal that it lies above the ego and superego in the brain. There, there is no duality, G-D is One.
Francoise
Posted by BD | May 15, 2007 9:29 AM
Olmert is stealing a page from Jim Baker's playbook: "Offer to negotiate knowing the enemy will refuse and then 'the world' will know the enemy really isn't interested in peace." There's just one problem with the theory - "The world" already knew the enemy wasn't interested in peace ... and it really doesn't care. Israel obviously believes she has to keep making these grand gestures regardless.
IMO, "peace" between Muslim & Jew will prove impossible until & unless a generation of Muslims arises which rejects the old hatreds. And even then, it won't take until their children's children's generation.
Posted by Old Mike | May 15, 2007 10:49 AM
Barak offered everything but the right of return and all of Jerusalem and Arrafat couldn't make the deal. Now does anyone really think that Hammas is more likely to make a deal or that there is above 0% chance that any deal made would be kept. We in the west love diplomacy, which is good, but cling to it even when it won't work, which is not so good.
Posted by jweaver | May 15, 2007 4:17 PM
Olmert does need to go and I would not be so sure that he is not ready to sell his country down the river for International acclaim- like Barak was willing to do in the final days of his government. It is seen as a safety net to try and harness so support by being a peace-monger. It is dangerous for any country to be ruled by corrupt politicians that will do anything to help themselves. Olmert is dangerous to not only Israel but our interests in the region.