First the unremarkable, banal, veritably quotidian spectacle of Israel’s moderate partner in peace glorifying mass murderers. Palestinian President Abbas publicly mourned the death of Munich massacre mastermind Abu Daoud. He personally honored the three terrorists who murdered Rabbi Meir Avshalom Hai, an Israeli father of seven. He repeatedly celebrated Dalal Mughrabi, who murdered 13 Israeli schoolchildren and 25 other Israeli civilians. He glorifies “resistance” and incites rioting. He peddles anti-Jewish organ theft libels and even sets up formal committees to investigate those bigoted fantasies.
The Israelis have complained to the White House about Abbas’s incitement, but these things are apparently really complicated. For instance, maybe this video was done on a greenscreen, as opposed to being a recording of an Abbas-sponsored high school graduation celebrating mass murderer. You never know:
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Now the New York Times editorial from Tuesday. The NYT board engaged in a little bit of diplomatic freelancing, hoping to cajole Abbas into embracing direct peace talks. Not so much to actually make peace, of course, as much as to expose Netanyahu as the barrier to Middle East stability:
There are understandable reasons for Mr. Abbas’s reluctance. We also don’t know whether Mr. Netanyahu, a master manipulator, really wants a deal or whether his hard-line governing coalition would ever let him make one. The proximity talks — the American envoy, George Mitchell, is shuttling again this week between Jerusalem and Ramallah — don’t seem to be getting very far, although there were hints of movement on Tuesday… if Mr. Abbas is not at the table, there is no serious way of testing Mr. Netanyahu’s intentions and whether there is any real chance of peacefully achieving a Palestinian state. That is the prize Mr. Abbas may be able deliver and his rejectionist rivals — Hamas — cannot. Mr. Abbas, who has long advocated a negotiated two-state solution, is seriously wrong if he thinks his leverage — and the future of the Palestinians — is in staying on the sidelines.
What forbearance Abbas must have, to continue pursuing peace in the face of all of Netanyahu’s provocations. Just think of the psychological toll it must take, to bounce from halcyon evenings with Omar al-Bashir to grinding meetings with Israeli Jews. What a drag.
As for Netanyahu’s ostensibly hard-line coalition – which is just the NYT parroting official White House talking points – the Israeli Prime Minister and the Defense Minister are not only actually committed to a two-state solution, they’ve both personally signed over substantial portions of the West Bank to the Palestinians. Netanyahu himself handed over Hebron, Judaism’s second holiest city, as a confidence building measure.
Fast forward to today and Abbas is sponsoring Nazi-style rallies.
And – just for completion’s sake – of course Abbas doesn’t want direct talks. He sought Arab League cover for indefinitely deferring direct talks. He resisted Israeli overtures and rejected US pressure for starting direct talks.
While that was working he gloated that he was using the US to beat up Israel by proxy, an impression formed after he received initial US pledges and one which he held no doubt despite repeated protestations from Obama. As pressure mounted for him to accept direct talks, he began issuing an ever-widening list of preconditions and non-starters, a diplomatic strategy that the Palestinians have been brazenly using over and over again since at least the end of last year.
The result? AFP headlines like “Israel rejects Abbas terms for direct talks.”
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