Blair and Barak just promised the Palestinians a bevy of economic incentives, but that's not helping them get what they're actually after:

In a surprise move, the Palestinian Authority on Monday set pre-conditions for participating in the US-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. The PA also said it would stay away from the conference unless key Arab countries participated in it. The pre-conditions were announced following the weekly meeting of the PA cabinet in Ramallah. Two top PA envoys, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Akram Haniyeh, have been dispatched to Washington to relay the new demands to US officials, a PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post. The meeting was chaired by PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

If the Syrians show up, they've said they'll hold the entire conference hostage unless Israel agrees to give them back the Golan. If the Saudis show up, they've said they'll hold the entire conference hostage unless they get their own list of demands. All of these countries - to say nothing of the hopelessly weak Abbas - have functionally zero to offer Israel. Even if they did, they certainly have nothing that won't be chipped away to nothingness over the next half decade or so.

Riddle us this: if the Palestinians want the conference to succeed, why would they set it up so that Israel is given the longest possible list of concessions, some of which have nothing to do with the Palestinians?

References:
* Blair unveils plan to boost PA economy [JPost]
* PA sets pre-conditions for Annapolis [JPost]
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process [MR]
* Abbas: "If You Don't Give Me Everything I Won't Accept Anything" [MR]

Previously:
* Liberal Think Tank: East J'lem Handover Not Enough To Appease Palestinians, Will Increase Terrorism (Plus: Losing East J'lem Now Means Losing The Temple Mount Later)
* Celebrity Concerts For Israeli-Palestinian Peace Canceled Because Of Terrorism Threats
* Israeli Security Foils 7 Suicide Bombings From Fatah-Controlled West Bank