In a recent interview, the PLO official Saeb Erekat announced a radical response to imagined Israeli intransigence: revoking Palestinian recognition of Israel. Ruthie Blum comments:
In the first place, though the only concrete action required of the Palestinians at Oslo was to amend the PLO charter calling for Israel’s annihilation—and even this was only promised in a series of letters exchanged between Rabin and Arafat—its newer version was never ratified. Second, Israel is the only party that has upheld its [Oslo] commitments. . . .
The Palestinian terrorism war that is currently being waged against innocent civilians and soldiers erupted, according to Mahmoud Abbas and his henchmen, as a result of a change in the status quo on the Temple Mount. That there was no such change makes no difference. Spreading lies is how the Palestinian leadership operates. Its success at the dissemination of propaganda only serves to strengthen its resolve. . . .
There are disagreements among Israeli politicians, pundits, and the public about how to handle the current crisis. . . . But a crucial little fact keeps getting drowned out in the cacophony and camouflaged by blood: no official Palestinian body has ever recognized the Jewish state. This is worthy of at least a partial smile, because something that never existed cannot be canceled.
Read more on Israel Hayom: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=14261