The lengthy speech by the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, at the UN General Assembly provided only partial historical recognition. The link between colonialism and the UN, especially in the context of UN Resolution 194 and the Palestinian right of return, was obviated by regurgitating the outdated concept of an international peace conference. “If there is no international peace conference and there are no direct negotiations,” Abbas asked , “then how can you make peace?”
Maybe giving Israel pointless ultimatums? That seems to be Abbas’s distorted view. The PA leader threatened to withdraw recognition of Israel if the military occupation does not end in a year. But who believes that rhetoric when Abbas has not held the promised Palestinian elections and continues to collaborate with the Israeli occupation security forces, despite numerous threats to end it?
Abbas’s political approach is dissociative. “Peace” is the international community’s euphemism for bowing to Israel’s colonial expansion and accepting the crumbs thrown at it from the apartheid table. In which case Abbas is right; it has never missed an opportunity for peace as the PA is aligned with Israel’s security interests to the point of turning its own security services against the Palestinian people.
Of course, Abbas’s goal is not to draw attention to the PA’s political failures in Palestine. Since it exists only as part of the international community’s commitment to two-state diplomacy, Abbas can use this narrative and claim that he is working for peace in Palestine, even if peace means submission to settlement expansion. and more de facto annexation of Palestinian land.
The series of rhetorical questions that Abbas asked in his UN speech also testify to his political weakness and submission to higher political power. “Does Israel believe that it can ceaselessly promote a false narrative that ignores the historical and current right of the Palestinian people to their homeland?” You are right. Not because Israel believes its false narrative, but because the UN has normalized the colonial narrative and the PA has done nothing to challenge it internationally, committed as it is to the two-state compromise that denies full political rights. from the Palestinian people to their land.
Speaking of narratives, the PA only exposes its “peace” narrative in terms of how it relates to the international community’s impositions on Palestine. But the Palestinians know another narrative from the PA; one that silences, imprisons, and sometimes murders dissenting voices. A narrative that has its foundations in the coordination of security to control the Palestinian people, mainly for the benefit of Israel, but also of the PA and its corrupt officials.
Denouncing international complicity while participating in the colonization process is not the mark of good leadership. Abbas has delivered a speech in which the least palatable parties to Israel and the international community have been balanced by adhering to the commitment of the two states, which nullifies Palestinian independence.
So instead of asking what Israel thinks it can do, let’s ask what the PA thinks it can achieve. How much more are you willing to tolerate? This year’s events are testament to what the PA does, and no persistent harangue for international peace conferences will alter the fact that the PA’s goal, like Israel’s, is to keep Palestinians from their rights. politicians. Abbas is right in saying that the Palestinians will oppose colonization, but he knows full well that the PA will not be by his side as long as he is at the helm.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of East Monitor.