Palestinians and a Kosovo Pipe Dream

The proposal by senior Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo put forward Wed Feb. 20 to copy the Kosovo example if Israel continued to mark time in talks for a Palestinian state was quickly knocked down by his colleagues, but eyed with interest by Israel.
Tuesday, prime minister Ehud Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni held another round of negotiations with Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qureia.
debkafile‘s Middle East sources commented: Nothing has stopped the Palestinians from going ahead and declaring the West Bank independent, any more than Hamas was prevented from seizing control of and governing the Gaza Strip. But Abbas and his Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority circle know that the moment unilateral independence is declared, the violent Al Aqsa Brigades faction of Fatah, Hamas, Jihad Islami and the rest of the Palestinian terrorist groups will move in and sweep them out.
In fact, if the Kosovo model were seriously applicable to the Palestinians, Israel might profit in three ways.
1. It would put a stop to the tedious biweekly charade of “peace negotiations” between and Israeli and Palestinian leaders and the meaningless statements issuing from both sides to cover their lack of content.
Livni assured the Knesset Monday, Feb. 18, that whenever she sits down to talk with Palestinian leaders, “the tears of Israeli paratroops at the Western Wall are before her eyes.” Nonetheless, she went on to say, the talks must go on to save Israel from being caught up in a religious war.
She used the future tense when, on that very day, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards publication Sobh-e Sadeqh (Dawn of Truth), discussing the death of Imad Mughniyeh editorially, called on believers “to kill the infidels everywhere, trap them and hold them to torture and ambush.”
The founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Republic Ruhollah Khomeini left his successors in Tehran a clear definition of the term infidels: “Contemporary Jews and Christians are unbelievers because they falsified the Torah and the New Testament and do not live according to the precepts of Moses or Jesus.”
Holy jihad was the theme of many of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s speeches for eight years when he tried to justify the long Palestinian war against Israel.
2. Abd Rabbo explained that the independent Palestinian state he proposes would treat Israel’s military counter-terror operations in the West Bank as an attack on the Palestinian state. It would be up to the Palestinian military to fight the terrorists. That would take the burden off Israel’s back – except that debkafile‘s military sources report that Abd Rabbo was talking through his hat. The Palestinian Authority can barely deploy 400 trained military men for the daunting mission of bringing thousands of terrorists under control, despite the many years and vast efforts invested by the US to bring an effective Palestinian force up to scratch.
3. Israel would gain substantially if the Palestinian government would finally stand on its own feet and start looking after its citizens, using the billions of dollars donated by the international community to start creating jobs, build roads and infrastructure, provide proper education and medical services, construct industries and regulate commerce.
The Palestinian rulers of the West Bank and Gaza Strip have never been prevented from behaving like proper governments. But while taking receipt of huge donations from all over the world, including Israel, the Palestinian Authority has not put the money into projects for the good of the people – any more than Hamas invested the suitcases of smuggled cash to provide clean streets free of sewage.
So where does the money go? It is diverted to two destinations.
One – into the pockets of Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders, whose fabled corrupt practices did much to boost Hamas’ credibility with the Palestinian voter.
Two – into the war chests of Palestinian terrorist organizations to fund their arsenals and anti-Israel operations.
Therefore, Palestinian leaders may talk big about creating an independent state but when it comes to the point, their willingness to come out from under the American and Israeli umbrella, leave the gravy train and walk without external crutches is questionable.
Abd Rabbo’s colleagues therefore lost no time in disowning his Kosovo vision in case it was accepted. They picked up the comment from some Israeli circles: Let them create another Kosovo; let’s see how long they manage to survive on their own.