In his essay on May 17, “The Long Overdue Palestinian State,” Mahmoud Abbas’ selective arguments leave out vital historical facts. The Arab world turned down a chance for its own state offered by the U.N. and instead, seven Arab nations attacked the newly-recognized Israel in a bid to eliminate the Jewish state.

Through these selective arguments, Abbas also fails to note that Israel came into possession of the “occupied” territories after the 1967 planned annihilation of Israel by Arab nations. And Abbas leaves out how Gaza and the West Bank were under Arab control from 1948-1967 but during that time, the Arabs did nothing to create a Palestinian state. “The three Nos” of Arab-Israel relations soon followed: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel. Not much has changed.

Abbas also doesn’t mention Palestinian non-compliance with the Oslo accords, where they agreed to dismantle terrorist groups, arrest terrorists and end incitement.

The Palestinian side cannot hide behind false history to create a state. They can negotiate in good faith. The Palestinian National Authority’s recent pairing with terror group Hamas, which pledges to destroy Israel and continues to fire rockets and mortars upon Israeli civilians, is not demonstrative of a peace-seeking future nation.

Daniel S. Mariaschin
B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President
Washington, D.C.