In response to Gareth Smith’s letter (February 12), it is the Palestinians who have the most to gain from securing a deal, rather than it being ‘blatantly obvious that nothing good would come,’ of it. The Palestinians’ options are limited by their own divisions. When the Palestinian leadership rejected the deal outright, they also declined to counter-offer or consider returning to negotiations.
A resolution requires compromise, and Israel will again be making painful compromises under this deal. But so shameful is the idea of compromise to the Palestinian leaders that it is impossible for them to contemplate any offer. Life under ‘Israeli occupation’ is seemingly so horrendous, but the idea of reaching a resolution even more so.
It sends a clear message about the land swaps involving the Palestinian population currently living in Israel (holding full Israeli citizenship). They are up in arms more than anyone else at the deal as it will mean that these large swathes of territory will be part of the future Palestinian state, and the last thing they want is to leave the flourishing democracy that is Israel, to live under Hamas or Palestinian Authority rule.
Read the letter by Danny Wakil in Echo Net Daily.