I agree, Arafat made a mistake, not accepting the final Taba offer. The same mistake Arabs have been making, since they rejected the 1947 UN partition plan.
Since the last serious peace negotiations (that would be Taba, not the Road Map), Palestinians and Israelis have died, because of that mistake. 2,560 Palestinians and 778 Israelis, just from 9/00 through 7/03. And the rest have lived in fear, with serious restrictions on their freedoms and prosperity.
Today, the Palestinians can't yield anything important, as long as the Israeli government yields nothing important. Sharon gave lip service to the Road Map and a Palestinian State, then issued his list of caveats to the Road Map, and nothing changed on the ground. The settlements, the checkpoints, the killings, it all went on unchanged. The Israelis conceded nothing but words during the Road Map, and they got nothing back but words.
If the Arabs are truly willing to suffer forever and without limit, to end the Jewish State, they will eventually succeed. It will cost millions of lives, but they can do it. They can afford millions of casualties, and survive, while Israel can't. They know this, and that's why they don't give up, no matter how badly or frequently they are defeated. I suspect many Israelis know it too. That view isn't admitted by Israelis and Israel's supporters, not because they think it's false, but because they don't want it to be true.
Maybe, in the 12 years since Taba, maybe the Palestinians have suffered enough, and are finally ready to abandon their Maximalist positions. It's worth a try, considering the alternative. |
