Monday, March 9, 2015

The Palestinians Want... Peace?

Gatestone Institute
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The Palestinians Want... Peace?

by Khaled Abu Toameh  •  March 9, 2015 at 5:00 am
The latest PLO and Fatah campaign is not directed only against settlement products. Rather, it is targeting anything made in Israel, as apart of an "anti-normalization" movement, whose goal is to thwart any encounters between Israelis and Palestinians, including peace conferences.
While some Israelis, Americans and Europeans are talking about the need to revive the peace process after the March 17 elections in Israel, the Palestinians are clearly moving in a different direction.
"We are headed for confrontation with Israel." — Mahmoud Aloul, senior Fatah official.
The Palestinian Authority's strategy now is to intensify its campaign to isolate and delegitimize Israel in the international community, and promote all forms of boycotts of Israelis and Israeli goods; to force Israel to make concessions through international pressure and through campaigns of boycott and divestment.
These campaigns are further radicalizing Palestinians, driving many of them into the open arms of radical groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
If Abbas is interested in returning to the negotiating table (as he sometimes declares he is), then he needs to prepare his people for that and not incite them even more against Israel.
Those who are opposed to the presence of Israeli products in their villages and cities will be the first to oppose the resumption of peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.
Palestinian anti-Israel activists dump out Israeli-made dairy products that they confiscated from local merchants in Ramallah, March 2. (Image source: Wattan TV video screenshot)
One of the reasons why it would be very difficult for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to return to the negotiating table with Israel is the massive campaign the Palestinians have launched to promote boycotts of Israel.
This campaign is being waged by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's loyalists in Fatah and the PLO.
Those who are today calling for a boycott of Israeli products, such as milk and dairy products, will be the first to stand against any attempt to resume the peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel in the future.
Although Abbas himself has publicly spoken against the international movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel, now he seems to have given his tacit support for the current campaign in the West Bank.
During a visit to South Africa in late 2013, Abbas told reporters, "No, we don't support the boycott of Israel. But we ask everyone to boycott the products of the settlements."

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