Apartheid, not Peace II

Following the recent revelations of Israel's humiliation at the American-sponsored* conference at Annapolis, it is important to keep up with the declarations that follow. Here is Abbas's latest:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is standing firm in his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish State. Abbas visited Egypt and Jordan for talks and was headed to Saudi Arabia when, speaking to reporters, he said "Historically there are two states, Israel and Palestine. Israel is inhabited by Jews and others. We are willing to recognize that and nothing else."

What is left unsaid is important: That while Israel will not be recognized as a Jewish state, inhabited, as it is, by Jews and Others (meaning Arabs), Palestine will be a state inhabited by Palestinian Arabs only.

This is a rude distortion of historical record.

When he says "historically", Abbas (probably) means the historical United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, which stipulates the following:

Independent Arab and Jewish States and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem, set forth in Part III of this Plan, shall come into existence in Palestine two months after the evacuation of the armed forces of the mandatory Power has been completed but in any case not later than 1 October 1948. The boundaries of the Arab State, the Jewish State, and the City of Jerusalem shall be as described in Parts II and III below.


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* It is important to emphasize the fact that this conference was sponsored and organized by Americans, and located at an American military base. This made the Americans the hosts of this party. And as hosts, they should not have colluded with the Arabs in the humiliation of the other guest. This is a basic rule of hospitality and good manners. Instead, Condoleeza Rice became complicit, through passive or active intervention, in the rudeness of some of the guests. She could not be who she is without foreknowledge of these humiliations to come. She will soon find out, alas, that those who go to sleep with dogs should not be surprised when they wake up afflicted with fleas.

None of it should come as surprise to her. Arab press has long depicted her in almost exclusively racist and sexist terms.