Palestinian State No Guarantee of Peace

One myth that seems to live on surrounding the Middle East peace process is that as soon as a Palestinian state is finally created, hostilities in the region will end. This argument, of course, serves to bolster the cause for Palestinian statehood -- if peace will result, then let's get about creating that state ASAP.

Take, for example, the following...

The Associated Press, September 16, 2010: "Inconclusive talks between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President Abbas left in doubt the prospects for their new effort to end generations of hostilities in the region and create a sovereign Palestine alongside a secure Israel" [emphasis added].

The Washington Post, August 21, 2010: "President Obama will embark on his deepest foray into Middle East peacemaking...when he hosts Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to achieve what his predecessors could not: a deal to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel and end the two sides' bitter conflict" [emphasis added].

The fact of the matter is that creating a Palestinian state prematurely -- before the vast majority of Palestinians come to care more about their economic well-being and livelihood rather than perpetuating their conflict with Israel -- will result not in peace but in continued war, this time with Palestinians in full control of land and international legitimacy. The Arabs know this; they are just smart enough not to acknowledge it publicly. Westerners, who don't understand the Arabs as well as they should, fail to see the danger in Palestinian statehood and, therefore, keep pushing for it, most times even harder than the Palestinians themselves. The day peace talks renewed in Washington in early September 2010, Palestinians were photographed in the West Bank protesting the talks, which are intended to create their state.

The idea that the moment a peace agreement is signed and a Palestinian state created the Palestinians will transform themselves into peaceful neighbors of Israel is naieve and dangerous. Until there is genuine reform among the Palestinians -- and that may easily take 100 years or more -- no Palestinian state will bring this conflict to an end. It will only make it worse.