The Rules Say We Palestinians Get To Reject 3 More Peace Agreements Before We Lose

by Saeb Erekat

One of the talking points one hears many times in the realm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that the Palestinians have rejected peace offer after peace offer. Putting aside the accuracy of the claim, it ignores one of the fundamental rules of the game: we’re allowed to reject up to ten final-status peace initiatives before being disqualified.

It’s all right there in the rulebook. We didn’t lose the right to reject a further nine proposals when the Peel Commission came to its conclusion in the 1930’s. We were perfectly safe, in terms of the number of violations allowed, when we and our allies – really just ambitious neighbors who wanted a piece of this land for themselves – said No to the 1947 UN Partition Plan. We were still in the game. Those are the rules. Are you trying to cheat?

Just because Arafat rejected Barak’s peace proposal, and Abbas rejected Olmert’s, and he continues to avoid negotiations toward a final-status agreement – none of that means we’ve run out of rejections. We’ve got a few more available. It’s not like baseball, where it’s three strikes and you’re out, or basketball, where a player is ejected if he commits too many fouls. We’re still in this game. We have more peace initiatives to reject before anyone can tell us to sit down.

For some reason no one ever talks about the number of times Israel has rejected initiatives. How many do they have left? Are you going to disqualify them from this competition? I don’t hear you saying that because Israel refused to cooperate with the 1948 effort to append Palestine to Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, the country lost its right to engage in further efforts to resolve the conflict.

Nor do I hear anyone serious arguing that Israel’s insistence on not subjecting its citizens to slaughter constitutes a rejection of an initiative. The absurdity shrieks for recognition. Once Israel is disbanded as a Jewish State, the Arabs will finally drive the Jews into the sea – along with anyone else they need an excuse to bump off – and then Palestine will be as serene, secure, and stable as any other country in the region. So where are the credible mediators and pundits suggesting Israel be penalized for its inexplicable refusal to accept such a permanent resolution?

Rules are rules. Now please let us get back to killing Jews under the pretext of “resistance.”

Please support our work through Patreon.