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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group

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To: slacker711 who wrote (23417)	4/4/2002 12:27:59 PM
From: carranza2	Read Replies (3) of 281500

I don't think there's any doubt but that the goal of the current Palestinian leadership is to destroy Israel as a State. The evidence is overwhelming. After Oslo, there was no real progress towards a political solution. At Camp David II, the Palestinians got the most generous Israeli concession yet. Some have characterized them as the Palestinians getting 90% of what they allegedly wanted. Yet, they were rejected without further negotiation. I engage in subtle and complex negotiations every day as part of my job. Whenever one side offers 90% of the expressed demands made by another party, I consider that real and substantial progress has been made. A compromise follows 99% of the time. The little I can read from the tea leaves left after Camp David II are two-fold: First, the Palestinians did not accurately express their goals, which might very well be the elimination of Israel--that kind of negotiating stance cannot be expressed. Secondly, they were not negotiating in good faith. The failure of the Palestinians to seek a political solution, their scuttling of Camp David II, and their subsequent use of homicidal bombers belies any suggestion on their part that they are interested in a settlement. Other than the destruction of Israel as a State, what else can reasonably be deduced? And, yes, the position one takes on the issue inevitably leads to how one judges Israeli actions. The question which tests the hypothesis is the following: What would the Palestinians do now while under assault by the Israelis if they were in fact interested in negotiation? Isn't it reasonable to think that they would go directly to a negotiated political solution instead of sending more homicidal bombers into Israel during a religious holiday? Wouldn't they unilaterally declare a ceasefire and call for immediate negotiations? It's what I would do if I were serious about negotiating.

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