Asharq Al-Awsat now provides the answer to the question.. (Asharq Al-Awsat is a pan-Arab daily newspaper). In this interview with "Palestinian Foreign Minister" Riyad Al-Maliki he reveals what the problem is.
From the interview:
Q: You said that there are a number of contentious issues. Which is the most intractable?This is the issue of recognizing the Jewish nature of the Israeli state. This is a sharply contentious issue. It would be dangerous to recognize this because this would mean our acceptance of the dissolution of our own history and ties and our historic right to Palestine. This is something that we will never accept under any circumstances. Acceptance of this would also raise fears about the fate of the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Israel. They are already second-class citizens, so how will they be affected by the Judaization of the state? This also raises questions about the [Palestinian] refugees and the right of return. So this is something that we absolutely cannot acceptIf they would recognize Israel it would mean admitting that their own history is contrived and fake. The two cannot really live together - not in a physical sense of two states side by side, but the two peoples historical claims are so in opposition to each other that one or the other is an obvious lie when placed next to the other.
Two states living peacefully side by side might be possible in a physical sense, but not in a historical sense.
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I disagree. It does not mean at all that their history is fake but rather accepting a new reality (as well as a colossal misunderstanding).
ReplyDeleteYou have to understand what is really behind what he is saying. In sociology, we learn understand that people of different cultures naturally project their values and mores onto others. Ex: If we enter peace talks with people wearing suits, we also expect that the guys sitting across the table in suits also came for the exact same reason.
In this case of the the Arab FM denying our wish to recognize a Jewish state, try to understand that the Arabs hear what we know as a mere folklore, secular wish for 'Jewish state' as a demand that they accept we turn Israel into a halachic state. Since they strive for a Islamic state under shaaria law, they naturally recognize our demand as the direct opposite and certainly, his response "what will come of the 1.8 million..." is actually sincere.