Why does this article have a sad and wistful tone, as if the turn to a more peaceful and prosperous future is a bad thing when compared to the violence and terrorism of the past. This seems like a positive development in every respect. The title of the article could be "Palestinians Move from Pointless Violence of the Past toward More Peaceful and Prosperous Future."
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This is likely to morph into a civil rights issue: one state where the question is who does and does not get to vote for the Knesset.
@Francis McInerney
The West Bank is under Military Occupation ... when/if a peace agreement is signed ... as the sides move back to their ‘border’ the Palestinians will look after their own civil rights which will be separate from Israel ... who will look after their own civil rights
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@tzatz I don't think that will happen. The Green Line is long gone. The two state solution vanished a good 40 years ago. Trump has already recognized Palestinians in East Jerusalem as Israeli citizens. The rest will demand the same rights. This will be an MLK moment.
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The Palestinian authorities have always turned down offers to have their own independent Palestinian state in return for recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace. Maybe now a newer, younger Palestinian leadership will take Israel up on the offer.
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@Horace
No Palestinian leader has confided in his People that: there will be No right of return only economic compensation ... No Jerusalem ... demilitarized entity .... autonomous ... Jordan Valley in Israel’s hands for decades (if not forever) ... obvious synergy with a vibrant Israeli economy hugely benefiting the Palestinians ... that’s the offer ... end the conflict / accept defeat and move in ... that’s the offer
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How about trying what MLK and Ghandi tried, peaceful protests?
To get redress of grievances ie refugee return, status of Jerusalem , Israeli land grabs etc. a million Palestinians stopping the economy in the area, marches, sit down demonstrations etc. would work much better than rockets or suicide bombings.
It would also bring world opinion to their side.
It worked in India, South Africa and Civil rights for blacks in America.
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Non violence is an option if the Palestinians wanted a state next to Israel, but that’s not what they want. They only want a state if it is built on the ashes of Israel. Not a “pitty state “ given to them by the U.N. or the US. That’s why the Palestinians repeatedly turned down Israeli peace proposals. If they can’t humiliate the Israelis in battle, they aren’t interested in ending the conflict.
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Though I think that less violent protest and action is good, I find it quite sad that many Palestinians in the West Bank have appeared to have lost hope in their dispute with Israel. At least in how this article has portrayed the feelings of many Palestinians in Bilin and Nilin, the spark of will to fight for their rights has diminished, and they seem to be giving up their diligence in this battle. Maybe for some, the new partaking in prioritizing individual Palestinians' welfare and quality of living is a new act of defiance and protest; but from the attitudes spoken about in this article, it seems like these Palestinians are tired. They don't have the energy to continue in the rigorous fight for human rights versus the Israelis and have begun to focus on individualistic goals, rather than those of the Palestinian people as a whole. Will these Palestinians of the West Bank start protesting again for their rights, or just stay peaceful and focused on their own achievements as individuals? And is the peace currently overtaking towns such as Bilin and Nilin a lack of hope and energy to continue fighting, or a new way of using their resources to fight back?
Arab leaders have no interest is solving the problems of the Arabs who live in 'Palestine.' The Arab refugees numbered almost exactly the same as the Jews who were kicked out of every Moslem country in the Middle East, post 1948.
Palestinians in the West Bank have not elected new leaders in a dozen years or more. The only place where Arabs participate in free and fair elections is inside the state of Israel.
The Palestinian Arabs have been used and abused endlessly by their Arab brothers.
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Despair is the correct emotion when your own government fails you and you continue to support it.
The U.S. is facing the same emotion for the same reason.
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The Palestinians would have a state in about 10 minutes if their leadership would guarantee the peace with Israel.
Israel has given up the Sinai desert to Egypt and parts of Gaza, and has make very concrete offers under Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert.
It sounds like at least some Palestinians are now realizing they have been wasting their lives with terrorism, and that if they would only announce publicly that they are willing to live with Israel, they would make much more progress than they have had in the last 70 years.
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@G Exactly my thoughts.
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The West Bank is realizing that the path they are on is one of failure. Others would have seen that years ago, but the infusion of outside cash and political influence kept the people lined up behind the corrupt PLA and its line of policy failure that stretches back through the PLO years and Yasser Arafat back to the 1940's. Every single decision that has been made in the name of the Palestinian people has been wrong - every one. It is not the people or even the leaders that are wrong - it is their fundamentally wrong view of the world, of values, of right and wrong, of good and bad, of what works and what does not. The Palestinian people need to rethink all of it - to stop banging their heads on the wall, even if there is a momentary rush of endorphins. Giving up is an option, but then so is a rethink of values, strategy and tactics. I would suggest the rethink.
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It used to be said (and true) that if the Palestinians loved their children as much as they hate the Israeli's, there would be peace. That's no longer true.
Sadly, the forces against peace (Palestinian, Israeli, USA, Arab world) are much stronger (at this time) than those pro-peace.
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