Yes, Virginia, The Palestinian Arabs Don't Really Want a State

Barry Rubin, director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal has posted an excellent article, Why Can't H. Clinton Bring Israeli-Palestinian Peace? Look at What B. Clinton Offered which the Palestinians Rejected, on the GLORIA Center web site.

Among the interesting points:

When her [Hillary Clinton's] husband left office there wasn't just a "lull." Bill Clinton had spent two terms working hard to achieve a peace agreement and he failed because the Palestinians rejected every offer he made and then launched a massive terrorist-based war on Israel that lasted five years. The beginning of understanding the issue is to admit that the reason there hasn't been a Palestinian state for nearly a decade is because the Palestinian leadership turned it down.

Until that admission happens, all of this running around is a wasted effort.

Actually, even if that happens, any running around will still be a wasted effort unless and until Gaza comes back under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas is either transformed or eliminated, and the Palestinian Arabs finally have some leadership that is really moderate, rather than the current leadership which is still really extremist and rejectionist but appears moderate in comparison to the even more fanatical rulers in Gaza.

"I have been committed to a two-state solution, a Palestinian state for more than 10 years. I was the first person associated with any American administration who said that the Palestinians deserved and should be given their own state. So I am very committed to both the Palestinian state to fulfill the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and security for the Israelis so that they would be given the guarantee of their own future."

The word "deserved" here is worth noting. It implies that the Palestinians have earned a state of their own. While one can justify this on the basis of consciousness and conditions, it is ironic to think of such an idea in light of Palestinian political performance in the last sixty years which has consisted all too largely of saying "no" and a rather large element of terrorism.

If the world was really interested in creating states for national groups which "deserved" them, the Palestinian Arabs would be behind hundreds of national groups which have existed far longer and which have not repeatedly rejected their own state while resorting to brutal terrorism and murdering thousands of innocent people.

There's lots more in Barry Rubin's article. Read it.