“If Muhammad the Prophet himself were to ink such a deal we would still oppose it. We would also claim it wasn’t really Muhammad, because that would be awkward.”
Jerusalem, October 21 – The alliance of mostly-Arab parties in Israel’s parliament made clear following their vote last week against the peace deal with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain that they intend to adopt the same position vis-à-vis any such agreement between Israel and the Palestinian leadership, given that peace agreements fail to resolve the conflict.
Representatives of the four parties, which hold a total of 13 seats in the 120-seat legislature, made statements to that effect today in response to Sunday’s festive inauguration of commercial flights between Manama, Bahrain and Tel Aviv. Alliance leader MK Ayman Odeh repeated his faction’s opposition to any peace deals between Israel and Arab states, since those deals leave the Palestinian issue unresolved and deprive the Palestinians of political and diplomatic leverage. The same will hold true if the Palestinian leadership ever decides to resume long-suspended negotiations with the Jewish State over final status issues such as borders, refugees, the disposition of Jerusalem, and whether Jews may continue to inhabit communities that would end up under Palestinian control: the Joint List will oppose such a resolution of those hereunto intractable subjects, Odeh explained, because resolving them will mean Palestinians must relinquish their century-old dream of destroying Jewish sovereignty.
“These so-called ‘peace’ deals are nothing more than a betrayal of the Palestinian cause,” charged Odeh, echoing the rhetoric of PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other prominent Palestinian leaders. “We who are charged by our constituents with keeping the Palestinian issue alive even within the 1948 borders will not be the ones to cement any such betrayal by Palestinians. This bloc will vote against any agreement with Israel no matter who signs it. If Muhammad the Prophet himself were to ink such a deal we would still oppose it. We would also claim it wasn’t really Muhammad, because that would be awkward.”
MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi expanded on Odeh’s words. “Arab citizens of Israel are in a delicate position,” he observed. “On one hand we must continuously assert our loyalty to the Palestinian nation, both out of a sense of tribal solidarity and the realization that families with relatives in areas under Palestinian rule wouldn’t want those relatives harmed if these citizens so much as hinted at support for Israel. At the same time, even with all the discrimination in Israeli society, Israeli Arabs enjoy rights and prosperity that no Palestinians anywhere can dream of, and that’s a perpetual source of resentment that feeds an Israeli-Arab need to keep demonstrating that despite these advantages, we hate this country. Peace is that last thing we want for it. If that means condemning ourselves and fellow Palestinians to war in perpetuity, that’s a small price to pay for our egos.”
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