After years and years of hearing that all but like 1% of Palestinians are good and peaceful people, we’re almost ready to believe it. You know who’s not ready to believe it? Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas:
Abbas, who was speaking to local reporters on the first anniversary of his election as PA chairman, said he would honor the results of the parliamentary election, scheduled for January 25, even if Hamas should win. “I was under heavy pressure to prevent Hamas from participating in the election,” he said. “But the pressure failed because I insisted on the right of Hamas and all Palestinian factions to take part. These groups are part of the fabric of our people and their political forces.”
Hamas is “part of the fabric” of the Palestinian people. But Hamas continues to reject the right of Israel to exist. Does that mean…
Now of course, if asked outright, Abbas would never really say that destroying Israel is part of the fabric of the Palestinian people. He would say that such views are only held by the tiniest and most marginal minority of Palestinians. Yet let him be just a little less careful, and he says essentially the same thing. Which, of course, follows the dynamic of most dialogue about the Israeli-Arab conflict – even when everyone knows what the situation really is, the Arab side can mouth the most transparent platitudes and everyone is expected to behave as if those platitudes are genuine. That’s why there’s so much shock when Iran’s President comes out and says out loud that his country seeks the destruction of Israel – even though everyone knew that that was always their policy. There is a charade being played out, but it’s a charade with a twist – in a normal charade, the one perpetuating it has to actually try to deceive the other side. In the Arab-Israel conflict, Israel’s enemies only have to go through the motions of perpetuating a charade, and everyone else only has to pretend to be deceived – but the results are the same.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
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