Against the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s March 25 recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, and the 40th anniversary of the peace accords between Israel and Egypt, the Arab press, and especially the Egyptian press, published articles criticizing the Arabs’ and Palestinians’ handling of the conflict with Israel.
The writers argued that the “all or nothing” attitude to the conflict which has led the Arabs and Palestinians to reject every proposed solution has caused a steady erosion in the proposals presented to them, while allowing Israel to consolidate its control of the occupied territories. They added that the U.S. recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan proved the wisdom of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s decision to make peace with Israel and thereby regain Sinai, as opposed to the folly of the peace rejectionists, whose obstinacy has left the Golan and Jerusalem in Israeli hands.
The following are excerpts from the articles:
‘In a bid to get everything, we rejected good proposals’
Ahmad Al-Tawwab, a columnist for the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram, criticized the Arabs and Palestinians for rejecting every proposed solution to the conflict with Israel out of a misguided belief that, by digging in, they would eventually get the best possible deal.
He wrote: “We must reassess the bizarre belief that has prevailed for many years among many Arab politicians and intellectuals, especially Palestinian ones. [I refer to the belief] that time necessarily works in our favor; that, despite Israel’s power and the success of the Zionist enterprise, the natural course of events will eventually lead to the fulfillment of all of the Palestinians’ national demands, and that Israel’s demise is a forgone conclusion because it is an alien corn [in the region], etc. This outlook is one of the reasons that the Palestinians have repeatedly missed opportunities [to resolve the conflict], on the grounds that [the proposed solutions] did not meet their aspirations, and based on the belief that the future would bring better opportunities or even eliminate the problem altogether.”
Full report at MEMRI.
