UK voices 'reservations' over Mideast summit, refuses to sign statement

[branford]

9. My issue is the the myopic view of the conflict that ignores the Palestinians

as active participants with free agency and responsibility.

The rise of the right and demise of the left in Israel, along with increased support for the settlements, has not occurred in a vacuum. Nevertheless, you and other routinely absolve or excuse anything said or done by the Palestinians, including from the period before 1967 when Israel did not control the territories.

Simply, the best way to convince Israelis to make concessions to the Palestinians is for the Palestinians to demonstrate they truly wish to leave peacefully with Israelis.

Step one, of course, is for Hamas, a recognized terrorist group throughout the West (and increasingly in the Arab world) to not rule and speak for about half the Palestinians and control all of Gaza.

Step two, the PA should stop naming streets, giving out candy, and paying financial compensation (with foreign aid) to the families of "martyrs" who kill civilians for political purposes, i.e., terrorists.

I believe you get the idea.

Lastly, no Israeli government on the left or right will turn over control of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. It would involve relinquishing sovereignty over the Wailing Wall, the holiest site in all of Judaism that was desecrated and denied to Jews before 1967. Similarly, no Israeli government will accept the return of millions of "refugees." It would be the end of Israel as the only Jewish state.

You claim to oppose non-democratic or religious states. I'm curious why I never read screeds by you against the multitude of VERY illiberal Arab and Muslim tyrannies, including the PA and Hamas, who surround Israel, the only democratic state in the region where all faiths are allowed to pray and live, including Muslims?'