- 7,11111101.,

Front Lines

Talks, To Where?

S

keptical as I am of anything
substantive bubbling up, I
hope the Israeli-Palestinian
talks emerging once more yield a posi-
tive push toward a two-state solution.
That solution seems impossible
under the cur-
rent makeup of
the Palestinian
Authority (P.A.)
charter and
government.
But perhaps the
Washington-
sponsored
direct talks
Robert Sklar
beginning this
Editor
week hold a
surprise prom-
ise of productive negotiations.
I'll keep an open mind. Even an
inkling of hope is better than a hope-
less stalemate. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu is wise enough
to realize that, despite his (rightful)
hard-line stance toward his counterpart
in Ramallah, Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel likely will extend its 10-month
partial settlement freeze in the West
Bank past September if it feels prelimi-
nary talks have any chance of going
somewhere worthwhile.
The Palestinians aren't so wrong in
demanding that the talks address the
key issues of final borders, Jerusalem
and Palestinian refugees. But such

final-status issues aren't going to be
settled until it's clear the Palestinians
are serious about renouncing terror,
dispelling hate, recognizing Israel and
embracing peace.
I have little faith in a Palestinian
leadership that took seemingly forever
to accept President Obama's invitation
to talks — and then began attaching
stipulations in a veiled threat to torpe-
do the fragile attempt to come together.
I've read that Palestinian schools
aren't as anti-Zionist as they once were,
but let there be no doubt: The drum-
beat of incitement against Jews hasn't
slowed in the P.A. government-con-
trolled newspapers, television, videos
and mosques.
Four days before agreeing to return
to the table with Israel, leaders of the
P.A. and its governing Fatah party as
well as academics and clerics publicly
restated the lie that Israel poisoned
Palestine Liberation Organization
founder Yasser Arafat — of course,
with the help of America. "It is even
disseminated through cultural events
and media messages for children:'
reports the Israel-based Palestinian
Media Watch (PMW).
On Aug. 4, the PMW reported that a
public Fatah event under the auspices
of Abbas included a song celebrating
Fatah's 1979 massacre in which 37
Israeli civilians, including 13 kids, and
an American photographer were mur-
dered in a coastal road bus hijacking

.114 CONTENTS

Sept. 2-8, 2010

23-29 Elul 5770

n-JEWISHNEWS

Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 5

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led by Dalal Mughrabi, a Palestinian
woman who became a martyr for
Allah and a "national hero" among
Palestinian girls.
Worse, the P.A. Charter continues to
call for annihilation of Israel, a member
state of the United Nations, in violation
of the U.N. Charter.
Article 19 of the P.A. Charter claims
the 1947 partition of Palestine and
the State of Israel's creation are illegal
"because they were contrary to the
will of the Palestinian people and to
their natural right in their homeland"
and inconsistent with the principles
embodied in U.N Charter, "particularly
the right to self-determination:'
Article 20 completes the circle of
deception. It denies a historic connec-
tion of the Jewish people to Palestine —
Eretz Yisrael, the biblical Land of Israel.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip,
which would be part of any negotiated
Palestinian state, remains a vexing wild
card.
Against this troubling backdrop, the
talks will begin. Let's pray the shofar
blast of Rosh Hashanah 5771, which
begins at sundown Sept. 8, finds a
negotiating climate that doesn't bedevil
our beloved ancestral homeland.
Let's pray the talks matter and lead
somewhere.
Meanwhile, l'shanah tovah tikateivu.
May you and yours be inscribed in
the book of life this new year. Shabbat
Shalom as well! ❑

pages 50-53

Shabbat: Friday, Sept. 3, 7:45 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Sept. 4, 8:45 p.m.*

Rosh Hashanah 1: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 7:36 p.m.
Rosh Hashanah 2: Thursday, Sept. 9, 8:36 p.m.

Shabbat: Friday, Sept. 10, 7:33 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, Sept. 11, 8:32 p.m.*

* Times according to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
calendar. Havdalah practices may vary.
Consult your rabbi.

On The Cover:

Rosh Hashanah greeting card designed by
Ava Taylor, 4, of Bloomfield Hills
Cover page design, Deborah Schultz

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September 2 2010

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