Palestinian President Abbas says there's 'no way' he'll recognize Israel as Jewish state
The world wants Israel to recognize the Palestinian state. It applies enormous pressure on the Prime Minister and others to do so. what pressure does the world exert on the Palestinians to recognize Israel and its right to exist as a free and independent state? Absolutely none.
It is a two way street.. The Palestinians deserve their own country. Israel has a right to exist. the way forward is obvious but both sides refuse to see it in the sense that politically it is too hot a potato for the leaders to handle.
the disputes, fighting and bad blood will continue until this attitude changes and both sides recognize the necessity for recognizing the legitimate demands of the other.
It is a two way street.. The Palestinians deserve their own country. Israel has a right to exist. the way forward is obvious but both sides refuse to see it in the sense that politically it is too hot a potato for the leaders to handle.
the disputes, fighting and bad blood will continue until this attitude changes and both sides recognize the necessity for recognizing the legitimate demands of the other.
Had the Arabs living in British Mandate Palestine after World War I (when the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Brits took over the area) agreed to a 2-state solution in 1947, there already would have been a sovereign State of Palestine for over 65 years. Instead, Arab countries around the fledgling State of Israel attacked it, hoping to "push it into the sea" (their own words), and about half a million Arabs living in Israel fled, exchanging their status as Arab citizens of Israel for that of "Palestinian refugees", living in UN-built camps.
Under the very liberal PM, Ehud Barak, Israel offered offered to withdraw from 97 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip. In addition, he agreed to dismantle 63 isolated settlements. In exchange for the 5 percent annexation of the West Bank, Israel would increase the size of the Gaza territory by roughly a third. Ehud Barak also made concessions on Jerusalem, agreeing that Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem would become the capital of the new state. The Palestinians would maintain control over their holy places and have religious sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
According to U.S. peace negotiator Dennis Ross, Israel offered to create a Palestinian state that was contiguous, and not a series of cantons. Even in the case of the Gaza Strip, which must be physically separate from the West Bank unless Israel were to be cut into non-contiguous pieces, a solution was devised whereby an overland highway would connect the two parts of the Palestinian state without any Israeli checkpoints or interference.
Barak's proposal also addressed the refugee issue, guaranteeing them the right of return to the Palestinian state (not to Israel, but to the new State of Palestine) and reparations from a $30 billion international fund that would be collected to compensate them. Israel also agreed to give the Palestinians access to water desalinated in its territory.
Arafat was asked to agree to Israeli sovereignty over the parts of the Western Wall religiously significant to Jews (i.e., not the entire Temple Mount), and three early warning stations in the Jordan valley, which Israel would withdraw from after six years. Most important, however, Arafat was expected to agree that the conflict was over at the end of the negotiations. This was the true deal breaker. Arafat was not willing to end the conflict. For him to end the conflict is to end himself, since his position as "leader of the Palestinian cause" requires a conflict.
Given these historical facts, I'm unclear why you believe any of this is a two-way street. Consider again: had the Arabs agreed to partition in 1947, they would already have had their own independent state for over 65 years. Instead, they fled Israel while other Arabs attacked it. It seems to me that what the Arabs really want is not their own state in the Middle East but the absence of a Jewish one.
the West bam would still be part of Jordon if Jordon had stayed out of the 1966 war. They didn't, Israel took the west bank for defensive purposes. The offered it back to Jordon and Jordon would not take it. that is the fault of the Palestinian terrorists and their actions in Israel
Note: I know there is no Palestinian state. I was simple saying that they want a state and deny Israel that same privilege. Irony upon irony.