February 20, 2008

GET ON WITH IT:

Palestinians 'may declare state' (BBC, 2/20/08)

A senior Palestinian official has said the Palestinians ought to unilaterally declare a state if peace talks with Israel do not succeed.

Yasser Abed Rabbo is a top aide to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and a member of the team currently negotiating with Israeli officials.

He said the Palestinians deserved independence more than Kosovo.

His comments come a day after talks between Mr Abbas and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert closed without visible progress.


Indeed, the only reason not to declare one is if you care more about destroying Israel--by claiming full citizenship rights--than about statehood.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 20, 2008 7:11 AM
Comments

That's a tough one - declare independence or drive the Jews into the sea?

Posted by: Mikey [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 20, 2008 8:17 AM

Except that instead of driving the Jews into the sea they would recieve the mother of all butt-kickings.

Posted by: Bartman at February 20, 2008 11:55 AM

They'd control the government of Israel.

Posted by: oj at February 20, 2008 3:36 PM

Out of the question. The Palis do not want to join Israel but to destroy Israel. We didn't make the Wampanoags voting citizens of Massachusetts in 1646.

Posted by: Lou Gots at February 21, 2008 5:09 AM

Since at least 1994, any "success" in peace talks has been the sole responsibility of the Palestinians. They have failed in every respect, and will not get a deal today like what they were offered in 1999/2000.

Of course, declaring themselves independent is a necessary first step. But I suspect their Arab brethren may have some words to whisper in secret about that. An independent Palestine would probably be a US client within a matter of days, and that wouldn't go down well in Damascus, Riyadh, Beirut, Libya, Khartoum, and even Cairo. And Tehran surely would be upset. But it would be fun to watch the scrambling. And the post-independence political/corruption purge trials will be a corker, too. Lots of juicy stuff about the UN, the Euros, the Arab elites (and the mullahs in Iran), and the 'officialness' of the anti-Semitic indoctrination over the past 40 years.

Posted by: ratbert at February 21, 2008 7:51 AM

if they were serious about destroying it they'd join.

Posted by: oj at February 21, 2008 10:12 AM
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