Palestinian independence now and then
Leave it to the scholarly Elder of Ziyon to recall that Nov 15 was Palestinian Independence day. In the first part of his post, EoZ deconstructs some of the more absurd claims from the Palesitnian Declaration of Independence. Though he did leave out the following …
The rights of minorities will duly be respected by the majority, as minorities must abide by decisions of the majority.
Given the exodus of Christians from the PA ruled areas, this claim of respect for minorities is a further sign of a farce. (And what sort of respect for minorities can there be if the same statement that promises them protection also says, in essence, the majority reserves the right to dictate how you will live, with no regards to your aspirations. But I didn’t notice the internal contradictions in the statement when I first saw it.) If you read the Declaration of independence and are impressed (or bewildered) by the flowery language, you might not be surprised to learn that it was written by (or inspired by) an academic. Jerome Segal, a philosophy professor at the University of Maryland claims that
… his essays in Palestinian and American papers played a catalytic role in the PLO’s decision to issue a Declaration of Independence and launch a unilateral peace initiative.
(I believe that I’d read elsewhere that Segal had a hand in writing the document, but I can’t find any such claim now.) After explicating select sections of the Declaration, EoZ rightly observes
For over a year, not a single Israeli soldier stepped foot in Gaza. For over a year, the PalArabs had every opportunity to prove that they were not a nation of terrorists and criminals, but that they were a peace-loving and progressive people. For over a year, they could have built industry and an economy. They had industrial zones they shared with Israel; they had greenhouses that brought in millions of dollars in revenue bought by American Jewish money, they even had a border crossing with Egypt that was not being monitored by Israel directly where they could import and export goods and services. They had an election where they could have voted in a government that cared about their day-to-day lives. Each and every opportunity was not only wasted, but turned into a means to terrorize and wage war against Israel. Gaza is now a lawless wasteland, far worse than when it was under the dreaded “occupation.” The only manufacturing industry of note in Gaza is the Qassam industry.
Eighteen years ago, much of the world hailed the Palesitnian Declaratoin as a sign that the PLO had accepted Israel and renounced violence. At the time, Charles Krauthammer observed that they had done nothing of the kind. ( The Ball’s still in Arafat’s Court, The Washington Post, Nov. 18, 1988)
“In Algiers tonight, the Palestinian National Council voted to reject terrorism, declare an independent Palestinian state and for the first time to recognize Israel’s right to exist.” So announced ABC News on Monday, Nov. 14. ABC likes to call itself “uniquely qualified to bring you the news.” And it does require unusual gullibility and ignorance for a news organization to issue a report so false. But in mis-covering Algiers, ABC was not alone. All the other electronic media that I sampled –Story No. 1 is the PLO’s “rejection of terrorism.” The PLO has renounced terrorism dozens of times. Like the alcoholic who is an expert on giving up drink since he has done it so many times, the PLO has done it again — and with the same sleight of hand. It used the oldest PLO ploy on the subject, couching any apparent rejection of terrorism in the context of relevant U.N. resolutions defining terrorism. Since these U.N. resolutions say that national liberation movements have the right to acts of “struggle” and “resistance,” and since every act of murder and butchery ever committed by the PLO has by (PLO) definition been an act of “struggle” and “resistance,” the PLO has therefore never engaged in terror. Nothing to renounce. QED. The Palestinians’ rhetorical rejection of terrorism at Algiers was thus both customary and empty. It was certainly not news.
No matter how many times various Palestinian leaders had co-operated enough for the word “peace” to be put into their mouths, the actions of the Palestinians have never matched even the most generous construing of their words. What EoZ observes is what happens when people deluded themselves.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.
Technorati tags: Palestinians, Independence, Jerome Segal, Israel.
