Jason D. Greenblatt
Newsweek, May 23, 2023
“Abbas, Hamas, PIJ, and other terrorist and militant groups continue to stand on the wrong side of history. They continue to drag Palestinian society backwards. They continue to miss opportunity after opportunity to turn a new page in their relations with Israel, the Jewish people, and the international community.”
In 1973 Israel’s former Ambassador to the United Nations Abba Eban, referring to the Palestinians, said they “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” When I served in the White House 44 years later this was a go-to quote about the Palestinians that I often heard in Washington, European capitals, and throughout the Middle East, including from Palestinians themselves.
This famous quote needs some updating. My suggestion is to add that today’s Palestinian leadership also never misses an opportunity to defame the Jewish people or lie or pervert the history of Jews in a land that is holy and of monumental significance to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Last week marked the 75th Anniversary of the birth of the modern State of Israel. Abbas commemorated this 75th anniversary not with words of possible conciliation between Israel and the Palestinians or the hope for peace and a better life for Palestinians who deserve so much more than they have today. Instead, he traveled to the United Nations to attend the ignominious, first-ever Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of what Palestinians call “the Nakba” at UN Headquarters.
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