A knack for missing opportunities

Nobody has yet to improve upon the late Abba Iban's assertion that "the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity".  That statement sums up with startling clarity and simplicity the ability of the Palestinians to shoot themselves in the foot if given half a chance.

I bring this up, because with the whole word's mostly negative attention focused firmly on Hezbollah, one would think the Palestinians would just sit quietly and pretend for a moment that they haven't been acting in concert with the other terrorist organizations in the region.  For a change, they could actually get to be the kid who has just helped set off a stink bomb in the school bathroom but who stands angelically by while the principal yells at another guilty party who actually got caught.  The Palestinians could have been the Eddie Haskell of the middle east!

But noooo.  True to form, they have missed yet another opportunity... just the latest in a long line of missed opportunities:

Take for example the first Gulf war.  If anyone on the planet should have just shut up and kept their head down while a rogue nation was beaten like a rented mule... it would be the Palestinians.  All they had to do to win a huge PR victory and come away with some serious political capital (not to mention dispel their image as perpetual thugs and terrorists) was to say nothing.  Do nothing.  Instead they were among the few people in the known world who actually took to the streets to demonstrate in favor of Saddam's Iraqi regime... and even obligingly burned a few American flags for the media.

Then in 2001 they were seen taking to the streets - this time in celebration, not protest - as Al Qaeda gave the US a black eye with an unprovoked, premeditated mega-terror attack on September 11th.  Again, in order to score huge PR points and appear almost human(e), all the Palestinians had to do was shut up for a couple of days and hide their glee at seeing images of American corpses on TV.  Instead they were filmed dancing in the streets and passing out candy to their children in celebration of the American carnage.  To their credit, they realized their mistake in time to threaten the cameramen and try to force them to turn over the footage.   But their bad luck held out and at least one film crew managed to smuggle out a tape.

Then in the second Gulf war the Palestinians again backed the wrong horse.  They were so enthusiastic about Saddam's chances this time around that they actually sent mujahideen to fight in Iraq against the infidel... and are still doing so!

Amazingly, much of the western world has forgiven the Palestinians every one of these lapses.  Apologists around the world have gone through mental contortions trying to explain what the Palestinians really meant.  'They were quoted out of context'.  'The cameras lied'.  'It was a religious holiday and that is why they were dancing in the streets, firing in the air and burning American flags'.

The same can be said about the political capital the Palestinians have squandered after every single Israeli concession.  It doesn't matter whether we're talking about Oslo or Camp David or any of the other occasions when Israel has bent over and metaphorically grabbed its ankles at the negotiating table in pursuit of an elusive deal that promised to allow some semblance of co-existence with the Palestinians.  Immediately on the heels of every negotiation they have simply continued with their 'war of stages' and have unabashedly used Israeli concessions as a springboard for launching the next round of violence.

When Israel finally abandoned negotiations and decided to go the questionable route of unilateralism, the Palestinians could be forgiven for being angry at being left out of the discussions.  After all, being denied a seat at the table and having your future borders defined by your enemy is a huge humiliation.  But in the wake of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza they were presented with a sterling opportunity to prove to Israel (and the rest of the world) that they could take all that money the world had pledged for building the infrastructure for the Palestinian proto-state, and actually take charge of their own destiny.

Instead, the money that started pouring in from all quarters went down the same black hole as always and the Gaza strip became the gathering place for a collection of bad-guys of the sort not seen since the lynch-mob sign-up scene in 'Blazing Saddles'. 

And of course, immediately after the last Israeli left Gaza the Palestinians forgot all about state-building and started firing rockets at Israeli population centers and tunneling under their new borders in order to murder and kidnap as many Israelis as possible.

So when Hezbollah crossed the internationally recognized/approved border to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers only a few weeks after Hamas had done the same... the timing seemed a little too convenient.  Any school principal worth his/her salt would have looked around and realized that more than one kid was involved in setting off the stink bombs, and the Palestinians would have been hauled into the office right along with Hezbollah.

But remarkably, the world got its usual case of amnesia the moment Hezbollah started raining rockets down on northern Israel... and it appeared that the Palestinians were on the verge of actually sitting quietly and getting to play the good kid for a change.

But instead the Qassams (and occasional Ketyusha) resumed being fired from Gaza at Israeli cities in the south, and Palestinian attempts to infiltrate and carry out suicide attacks were redoubled.

The cherry on the top of all this opportunity-missing came in an an article I read yesterday that was chock full of quotes from Palestinian sources that all seemed to be falling over themselves in a headlong rush to be the first to miss the next opportunity.  Here are the money quotes:

"Palestinians took to the streets in Ramallah on Tuesday to protest the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.   The protesters marched towards the Muqata'a compound, chanting slogans in support of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah."

So much for staying quiet and letting the other kid take the rap for a change.

"The [leaflets distributed at the protests] accused Israel of waging a war of "genocide" against the Palestinians and Lebanese after receiving a green light from the US administration."

They just love the word 'genocide'... almost as much as they love the words 'war crimes' and 'atrocities'.  But somehow they never seem to ask themselves how to define deliberately targeting Israeli civilians for several decades; 'measured responses' maybe?

"In a statement issued in the Gaza Strip, the committees claimed that Rice was "plotting" behind the scenes "to isolate Lebanon from Palestine."

Um, I'm confused.  Even according to the Palestinian narrative 'Palestine' and Lebanon are distinct entities and a clear separation is appropriate and necessary... especially in time of war.

"The US... wanted to calm the situation in the PA territories to give Israel time to crush Hizbullah."

Well, actually they probably have this one right.  But if the Palestinians wanted to maintain plausible deniability about acting in concert with Hezbollah... this was a silly accusation to make.

"We call on President Mahmoud Abbas to respect the feelings of the Palestinian people and to refrain from meeting with Rice and succumbing to her arrogant dictates that will only bring our people more humiliation and suffering."

Uh huh.  And nothing you have done with your newfound autonomy has brought humiliation and suffering on your people.

"Osama al-Mazini, a Hamas political leader, said Rice's visit was designed to help Israel following its "defeat" in the PA territories and Lebanon. "

This is what is known in political circles as 'wishful thinking'... or in layman's terms; 'counting one's chickens before they are hatched'.

"The Americans are 120 percent biased in favor of Israel. That's why Rice is coming to save Israel from defeat and humiliation. The US always intervenes when Israel is in trouble."

And here I thought it was only Israelis that were bad at math.  As to who is actually on the ropes, please see my earlier assessment of the Palestinian penchant for always backing the wrong horse.

"[Rice is] also coming here to provide Israel with political and moral support after the severe blows it suffered at the hands of Hizbullah in Lebanon."

OK, I'm confused.  Which is it?  Either Israel has to be stopped because it is destroying /humiliating Hezbollah... or Israel is being destroyed/humiliated by Hezbollah.  It can't be both.

"The Americans and the Israelis are also hoping to defeat the Palestinians by waging a war on Hizbullah in Lebanon."

Again, if you are trying to preserve the illusion that Hamas and Hezbollah aren't in cahoots, it might behoove you not to mention them in terms that suggest to an alert listener that a military alliance exists between the two organizations.  Shhhhhh

"The Americans want a new Middle East devoid of jihad, resistance, liberation, martyrdom, retaliation and dignity. These are all terms that disturb the Americans."

OK, I can't really argue with this one... especially if the reader is meant to infer that the words 'dignity'  and 'liberation' are meant to belong to the same set as the other words on the list.

"The Americans' problem is that they have never learned from their past mistakes.  They are continuing to rely on the same corrupt and weak horses in the Middle East."

Not to sound like a broken recored here, but... Hello Kettle?  Hi, it's the pot calling.  Guess what? You're black!

[Sorry about the overdose of political blogging lately.  This is supposed to be a journal about life in Israel.  Unfortunately, when life here becomes dominated by politics my journal usually follows suit.]