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Will it or will it not happen?

Sep 24,2017 - Last updated at Sep 24,2017

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas emerged from his meeting with US President Donald Trump, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting last week in New York, rather optimistic, saying that the US president’s commitment to the issue might help Palestinians and Israelis reach the “deal of the century”.

One certainly hopes that Abbas’ faith in Trump and his team, which, the president said, is working very hard on the issue, is not misplaced.

Trump did say: “I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made,” adding that “we’re at a very important juncture, there’s a small period of time, and we’re going to see what we can do,” but he added, in the same breath, that “there can be no promises, obviously”.

The New York meeting, one of about 20 others between the two leaders, may give the impression that things are moving on the Palestinian-Israeli front, but nothing of the sort is obvious in reality.

On the contrary, after Abbas’ speech at the UN, in which he said, among others, that Israel has failed to assume the responsibility of ending the occupation, accused it of apartheid, incitement and “pretending” that “there’s no Palestinian partner for peace”, and called for blacklisting companies operating in Israeli settlements, Israel showed, again, its true colours, with its ambassador at the UN saying that Abbas’ speech “spread falsehoods” that “encourage hate”.

If Israel believes that asking for a people’s legitimate rights “encourages hate”, one wonders how it can ever be convinced to sit at the table and negotiate a fair peace with the people it has occupied for decades.

It will take a miracle — in the form of determined international action, at the very UN — to make Israel see sense in reaching peace with the Palestinians.

Efforts, optimism and statements for public consumption do not work. International legitimacy should. 

 

But will the nations of the world have the backbone to take Israel to task?

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