Daniel Pipes On Israel And Palestinians

In an article that he says distills a decade's thinking and writing on the Middle East, Daniel Pipes argues that there can be no peace, and there should be no more negotiations, until Palestinians accept the permanence and legitimacy of Israel and cease all violence. Pipes argues that a nation can only make peace with a former enemy, and a defeated one:

[Premature] Israeli concessions inflamed Palestinian hostility. Palestinians interpreted Israeli efforts to "make peace" as signals of demoralization and weakness. "Painful concessions" reduced the Palestinian awe of Israel, made the Jewish state appear vulnerable, and incited irredentist dreams of annihilation. Each Oslo-negotiated gesture by Israel further exhilarated, radicalized, and mobilized the Palestinian body politic to war. The quiet hope of 1993 to eliminate Israel gained traction, becoming a deafening demand by 2000. Venomous speech and violent actions soared. Polls and votes in recent years suggest that a mere 20 percent of Palestinians accept the existence of a Jewish state.