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Palestinian Leader Abbas Is No Partner for Peace With Israel | Opinion
JASON D. GREENBLATT , FORMER WHITE HOUSE MIDDLE EAST ENVOY
ON 5/23/23 AT 7:02 AM EDT

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OPINION
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
ISRAEL
PALESTINIANS
UNITED NATIONS

In 1973 Israel's former Ambassador to the United Nations Abba Eban,
referring to the Palestinians, said they "never miss an opportunity to
miss an opportunity." When I served in the White House 44 years later
this was a go-to quote about the Palestinians that I often heard in
Washington, European capitals, and throughout the Middle East, including
from Palestinians themselves.

This famous quote needs some updating. My suggestion is to add that
today's Palestinian leadership also never misses an opportunity to
defame the Jewish people or lie or pervert the history of Jews in a land
that is holy and of monumental significance to Jews, Christians, and
Muslims.

Last week marked the 75th Anniversary of the birth of the modern State
of Israel. Abbas commemorated this 75th anniversary not with words of
possible conciliation between Israel and the Palestinians or the hope
for peace and a better life for Palestinians who deserve so much more
than they have today. Instead, he traveled to the United Nations to
attend the ignominious, first-ever Commemoration of the 75th anniversary
of what Palestinians call "the Nakba" at UN Headquarters.

Abbas at the UN
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends an observation of the 75th
anniversary of what they call the Nakba in the General Assembly Hall at
the United Nations on May 15.
MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO/GETTY IMAGES

In his remarks, Abbas slandered Israel and invoked Joseph Goebbels, the
master propagandist for the Nazis by saying Israelis and Zionists
"continue to lie, like Goebbels." Abbas mourned the creation of the
State of Israel as a "catastrophe" of history, and castigated the United
States and Great Britain, countries that have given billions upon
billions of their taxpayer's dollars and pounds sterling to help the
Palestinians. He accused the United States and Great Britain of
expelling their respective Jewish populations and planting, for their
own colonialist purposes, a "foreign entity" in what he pretends was
then an Arab State of Palestine. His speech was a cornucopia of hatred,
lies and slander.

The denial of the two Jewish temples on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a
fixture of Palestinian propaganda and a fundamental building block of
the Palestinian campaign to whitewash Jewish history in Jerusalem and
Jewish claims to its historical holy places, was on prominent display at
Camp David in 2000, when Abbas' predecessor, Yasser Arafat, denied such
historical facts to President Bill Clinton. Clinton, a bible-believing
Christian, responded forcefully that "not only the Jews but I, too,
believe that under the surface there are remains of Solomon's temple."
That did not stop Abbas from his Temple denial claims at the United
Nations. Such historical revisionism should be condemned by today's
world leaders. Instead, Abbas' speech received significant applause from
those who attended it. So much for the United Nations seeking to
maintain international peace and security and developing friendly
relations among nations.

Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority on Jan. 9,
2005, for a four-year term. This past January he celebrated the 18th
anniversary of that four-year term. His leadership of the Palestinians
is belied by his bitter rivalry with Hamas, a terrorist organization
which rules the Gaza Strip. On this tiny piece of land over two million
Palestinians suffer because of Hamas' brutal rule and the organization
continues to vow to destroy the Jewish State of Israel.

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The same week that Abbas was verbally attacking Israel, the United
States, UK, as well as truth and history itself, Palestinian Islamic
Jihad (PIJ), another terror group, launched more than 1,400 rockets at
Israel, committing the double war crime of launching such deadly
projectiles from civilian areas of Gaza and targeting Israeli civilians.
Perhaps the United Nations wants to give equal time to the leaders of
Hamas and PIJ to speak "their truth" about Israel. After all, the United
Nations could not even bring itself to label Hamas as a terrorist
organization.

Abbas, Hamas, PIJ, and other terrorist and militant groups continue to
stand on the wrong side of history. They continue to drag Palestinian
society backwards. They continue to miss opportunity after opportunity
to turn a new page in their relations with Israel, the Jewish people,
and the international community.

At 75, Israel continues to thrive and prosper and has made peace with
numerous Arab neighbors. while continuing to seek peace with others. It
desires peace with the Palestinians, a peace that keeps Israel safe and
both populations secure and thriving, one that is based on reality and
truth. Yet, today's Palestinian leadership, like those who came before
them, use the United Nations to remain mired in the abyss, while seeking
the destruction of Israel. They seek an unachievable peace based on
false promises made by Palestinian leaders and others around the world.

The road to peace requires courage, truth and an understanding of
reality. Denying the Jewish people historical rights within their
ancestral homeland will never lead to peace. It is a fool's errand,
fraught with endless strife and continued defeat for those who pursue it.

Abbas' fraudulent, hateful rhetoric must be relegated to the dustbin of
history. Abbas' words demonstrate that at this stage of his life he is
incapable of paving a path to peace or a prosperous, secure future for
Palestinians, Israelis, and others who are affected by this conflict.
Perhaps this was the case throughout his time as leader. What a tragedy
for the Palestinians. That is the true Nakba.

Jason D. Greenblatt served as White House Middle East envoy in the Trump
Administration. He is the author of the widely acclaimed book "In the
Path of Abraham" and serves as the director of Arab-Israel Diplomacy for
the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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Conversation 28 Comments

Justin Thyme
5 hours ago

Dear Lord, what drivel. Gotta hold my nose every time I slog through a
pile of manure like this.

"At 75, Israel continues to thrive and prosper and has made peace with
numerous Arab neighbors. while continuing to seek peace with others."

Israel has made 'peace' with autocrats, not their subjects. To
underscore what a facade it is, note that Syria has been brought back
into the Arab league while Iran and Saudi Arabia are beginning to
normalize their relations. An analyst from the UAE said that
Netanyahu's government has 'embarrassed' the Emirates, adding that no
new countries will now normalize relations with Israel.

And that's just one of the many lies of Greenblatt in this piece. I
recommend IMEU's website or even WRMEA for further context.

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whosonfirst
8 hours ago

I can remember the US sponsoring elections in Palestine. And when Abbas
lost, the US armed his followers in an attempt to overthrow the winning
organization. His followers lost outside the west bank but that did not
deter the US declaring Abbas the winner and "representative of the
Palestinians" because the US thought they could control Abbas.

Years latter and Abbas has still not given away the Palestinians human
rights and land to the europen n azis the US sponsors. Years latter and
Abbas's "elected term" long expired, he has no authority to do so. Years
later and his treason to the majority of Palestinians that did not vote
for him in negotiating their surrender not recognized by them he stands
in front of the UN general assembly and speaks truth to power.

Now the US wants to abandon him because he "is not a partner to peace
with the nazis planning another holocaust against a semitic people(the
Palestinians)".

Good for him. The Geneva Conventions consider anyone appeasing war
criminals against their own people coconspirators in the war crimes. He
may have been a traitor in accepting arms from the US. He may have been
a traitor in fighting a civil war after loosing the election. He may
have been a traitor in negotiating with the war criminals. But in the
end, he has not joined the US and this author as a war criminal.

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Lysander
9 hours ago

Someone named Greenblatt thinks the Palestinians are the problem. What
a surprise!