Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has told the Jerusalem Post that the Palestinians reject Israel's demand that the Palestinians acknowledge it as a Jewish state at the forthcoming Annapolis meeting.
"There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined," Erekat told Radio Palestine.
This attitude ignores the fact that the Jewish people constitute far more than a religion alone and highlights a fundamental problem in the process of negotiatiating peace between Israel and the Palestinians who have never accepted that the Jews are a people and are entitled to self-determination just as the Palestinians are entitled to self-determination. Without mutual recognition all peace talks are doomed to failure.
Erekat's position also exhibits more than a touch of hypocrisy and dishonesty on his part. We already know from his lies to the BBC in 2002 that thousands, well at least 500, were being massacred in Jenin that he has no qualms about making dishonest remarks to the media while keeping a straight face but Elder of Ziyon points out that the 2003 Constitution of Palestine provides as follows:
"ARTICLE 4
1. Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
2. The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.
3. Arabic shall be the official language."
Another day, another lie for Saeb Erekat. Big deal!
The Elder has also discovered (through a translation from the Palestine Press Agency) a statement from Ahmed Abdel Rahman, advisor to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has said that "the willingness of the Palestinians for peace does not mean relinquishing one inch of the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip....He reiterated his assertion that Abu Ammar (Yasir Arafat) was killed because of his refusal to waive Jerusalem."
Between Erekat and Rachman there's not much room left for fair and honest dealing and a compromise between the parties at Annapolis. What are they doing there?
"There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined," Erekat told Radio Palestine.
This attitude ignores the fact that the Jewish people constitute far more than a religion alone and highlights a fundamental problem in the process of negotiatiating peace between Israel and the Palestinians who have never accepted that the Jews are a people and are entitled to self-determination just as the Palestinians are entitled to self-determination. Without mutual recognition all peace talks are doomed to failure.
Erekat's position also exhibits more than a touch of hypocrisy and dishonesty on his part. We already know from his lies to the BBC in 2002 that thousands, well at least 500, were being massacred in Jenin that he has no qualms about making dishonest remarks to the media while keeping a straight face but Elder of Ziyon points out that the 2003 Constitution of Palestine provides as follows:
"ARTICLE 4
1. Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
2. The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.
3. Arabic shall be the official language."
Another day, another lie for Saeb Erekat. Big deal!
The Elder has also discovered (through a translation from the Palestine Press Agency) a statement from Ahmed Abdel Rahman, advisor to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who has said that "the willingness of the Palestinians for peace does not mean relinquishing one inch of the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip....He reiterated his assertion that Abu Ammar (Yasir Arafat) was killed because of his refusal to waive Jerusalem."
Between Erekat and Rachman there's not much room left for fair and honest dealing and a compromise between the parties at Annapolis. What are they doing there?
1 comment:
How disingenuous can you get?
Because of the exile, Jewish identity became almsot synonymous with religion but in fact it was a nationality as well and always has been, albeit one with a shared religious background.
Egypt is an Egyptian state, Russia a Russian state, Israel a Jewish state. To deny that reality is to reject the very concept of peace, or for that matter the very concept of nationality.
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