Hanan Ashrawi: The Master Manipulator

Ms. Ashrawi is a gifted orator, but she is also a master manipulator of the facts in order to place all the blame on Israel. This further delays peace by saving the Palestinians from having to make difficult decisions.

In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Ashrawi makes several statements which simply are wrong. I'll address only a few here.

First, Ashrawi says "power politics" have always "played against the Palestinians." This is untrue. The UN 1947 Partition Resolution, negotiated by the world powers, offered Palestinians their state. They rejected it. In 1991, the U.S., Russia, and others came together to finally give the Palestinians a voice at the negotiating table. The U.S, Russia, and others did so again by endorsing the Oslo Process. The Palestinians squandered both opportunities. World powers have also given Palestinians billions in aid. World powers have given the Palestinians opportunities to improve their situation. Instead, Palestinian leaders have wasted them.

Ashrawi says that the "path" of bilateral negotiations with Israel has gotten Palestinians "nowhere." This is not true. Negotiations with Israel have given the Palestinians more than they have gotten from anyone, especially their Arab bretheren. Israel has given them legitimacy, elections, arms, and not least, tangible land in the West Bank and Gaza to call their own. Instead, they cannot get their act together, unify, renounce violence once and for all, and establish lasting peace with Israel. Palestinian failures are pathetic and saddening.

Finally, Ashrawi says Obama "has never really put pressure on the Israeli government." This also is not the case. Obama has pressured Israel more than any other U.S. president in recent times and, ironically, to the detriment of Palestinian interests. Early on, Obama raised the settlement issue and put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Obama has been unrelenting in demanding that Israel -- not the Palestinians -- demonstrate goodwill in order to restart peace talks. Anyone who remotely follows Middle East events knows of the pressure Obama has put on Israel. This statement alone by Ashrawi exposes her as consistently disregarding the facts in order to smear Israel and avoid pressure on the Palestinians.

Obama's pressure on Israel regarding settlements is not in the Palestinians' long-term best interests. By pushing hard on settlements, Obama is actually hurting Palestinians because he is allowing them to avoid having to do anything themselves to move the peace process forward. Why is this bad? Because it further delays the achievement of their goal of statehood. The Palestinians can just sit back and wait, stalling the process, while Israel and Obama bicker over the settlement issue. This actually hurts the Palestinian masses the most, as opposed to their leaders. Their leaders benefit because they are not ready/willing to make difficult decisions anyways, and Obama is saving them from having to.

Ashrawi is a has-been who has served only to help perpetuate the conflict rather than encourage her people to compromise. She should retire to Paris with Suha.