[Haaretz] Danny Rubinstein: The return of the Zionist entity

[furman]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/789918.html

Last update - 02:24 20/11/2006
The return of the Zionist entity
By Danny Rubinstein

The frantic activity and occasionally violent struggles among the Palestinian factions concerning the formation of the new government should arouse concern not only among the Palestinians but among us as well. In another year and a half it will be 60 years since the establishment of the state, and after all these years, the greatest controversy among the Palestinians is over recognition of Israel.

The leaders of Hamas are not giving in. On the ideological plane they don't see any possibility of recognizing the legitimacy of the existence of the Jewish state in any part of Palestine. One could have expected that in the West Bank and Gaza there would be a public campaign to pressure Hamas to change its stance. That is not happening. In several public opinion surveys it even seems that the opposite is true: Hamas continues to enjoy serious support among the public, even on the issue of non-recognition of Israel.

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Nor are the chairman's (Abbas) demands of Hamas always clear. The guidelines of the national unity government are based on the "prisoners' document," and do not meet the three demands of Israel and the Quartet (recognition, an end to violence and abiding by previous agreements).

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In spite of the growing distress in the territories, and particularly in Gaza, the atmosphere among the Palestinians is only becoming more inflexible. This can be seen in Palestinian spokesmen's use of expressions from the 1950s and the 1960s. People, not just Hamas activists, never mention the word Israel; they call it "the Zionist entity" or "the Zionist enemy," and sometimes "the occupation government" and the "Tel Aviv government." Expressions such as "war criminals" and "murderers" are heard daily.

We should not be surprised by that. Anyone who watches the Arab satellite stations and reads the headlines in the Palestinian newspapers has for years seen only pictures of the dead and wounded along with demolished houses.

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This is seen, heard and experienced personally every day by residents of the West Bank and Gaza, and their recognition of the legitimacy of a state that does these things is steadily declining.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/789918.html