1-29-23 The 'Two-State Solution' to Destroy Israel

The 'Two-State Solution' to Destroy Israel - by Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18680/the-two-state-solution-to-destroy-israel While the Biden administration continues to talk about its commitment to the "two-state solution," a majority of the Palestinians are saying that they support the Islamist Hamas terror group and want to see more terrorist attacks against Jews. The Biden administration is living under the illusion that the "two-state solution," which would see the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel, is the only way to achieve peace, security and stability in the Middle East. The vast majority of the Palestinians, however, make it abundantly clear that they do not believe in the "two-state solution" and would rather see Hamas, the Iranian-backed terror group whose charter calls for the elimination of Israel, replace the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. On June 30, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Abbas to discuss President Joe Biden's upcoming trip to the Middle East. "Secretary Blinken stressed the US commitment to improving the quality of life of the Palestinian people in tangible ways and the Administration's support for a negotiated two-state solution," said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price. On the eve of Biden's visit to Israel, the West Bank and Saudi Arabia, a public opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research indicated a significant drop in support among the Palestinians for the "two-state solution" and a rise in support for a return to an armed intifada (uprising) and terrorist attacks inside Israel. According to the results of the poll, opposition to the concept of the "two-state solution" stands at 69%. Another 75% of respondents also expressed opposition to the idea of a one-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians would live together and enjoy equal rights. The poll found that 55% of the Palestinians support a return to armed confrontations and an intifada, an increase from 51% who supported a return to violence three months ago. In addition, a majority of 59% said that they supported terrorist attacks carried out inside Israel by Palestinians during the past few months. The vast majority of the Palestinians (69%) are also opposed to an unconditional resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations. Another 65% are opposed to dialogue with the Biden administration. The poll found that a majority of the Palestinians do not have confidence in Abbas, with whom the Biden administration is dealing with. If new presidential elections were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would receive 55% of the votes, while Abbas would get only 33%, the poll showed. Seventy-three percent of the Palestinians expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of Abbas, while another 77% said that they want him to resign. Most Palestinians said that Hamas is the most deserving to represent and lead the Palestinian people. Hamas's rising popularity among the Palestinians means that the Palestinian state the Biden administration is seeking to establish next to Israel would soon be ruled by an Islamist group whose covenant states that "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as Islam obliterated others before it." As a majority of the Palestinians want to replace Abbas with a Hamas leader, it means that the proposed Palestinian state will be committed to the covenant of the terror group, which does not believe in Israel's right to exist. In case the Biden administration and the rest of the international community are not aware of Hamas's agenda, they need to take a look at what the terror group's covenant says. Article 11 of the covenant states: "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered; it, or any part of it, should not be given up. Neither a single Arab country nor all Arab countries, neither any king of president, nor all the kings and presidents, neither any organization nor all of them, be they Palestinian or Arab, possess the right to do that." The covenant (article seven) reminds Muslims of the famous hadith (saying) attributed to the prophet Mohammed: "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdullah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." The Palestinian state that the Biden administration is pushing for will undoubtedly be used by Hamas and its patrons in Iran as a launching pad to obliterate Israel. Hamas leaders have never been anything but clear and consistent about their intention to eliminate Israel and kill Jews. During a recent visit to Lebanon, Haniyeh, the Palestinians' preferred candidate for president, stated that there is "no future" for Israel on "the land of Palestine." Haniyeh announced that Hamas was preparing for a "strategic battle" with Israel. "The Zionist entity is facing a dark future because of the Islamic resistance," he said, praising Palestinians who carry out terrorist attacks against Israel. Haniyeh said that in the event of a new military confrontation with Israel, Hamas will destroy the "Zionist entity" in a matter of minutes. "The Zionist entity will be struck with 150 rockets in less than five minutes," he threatened. During his visit to Lebanon, the Hamas leader participated in a meeting of the so-called National Islamic Conference together with leaders of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror militia. The conference was also attended by representatives from several Arab countries, including Egypt, Libya, Kuwait, Syria, Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, and Algeria. The conference expressed full support for Hamas and terrorism against Israel and lashed out at Arab countries that established normalization with Israel. "The conference notes the achievements and heroisms made by the Palestinian resistance in the against the Zionist enemy," read a statement issued by the participants at the end of the meeting. "The conference supports all forms of resistance in the face of the Zionist enemy." The conference condemned some Arab countries' efforts "to normalize with the Zionist enemy and open their countries to its army, economy, settlers and politicians." It further denounced the efforts of Arab countries "to enter into military alliances with the Zionist enemy," and called for canceling the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 between Israel and the PLO. The conference said that it "affirms the right of the Palestinian people to their historical land from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea." This statement is a huge boost to Hamas because the conference actually endorsed the terror group's effort to destroy Israel and replace it with an Iranian-backed Islamist state run by Haniyeh and the mullahs in Tehran. Hamas and its supporters do not believe in Biden's "two-state solution" or any peace process with Israel. The only solution they want is one that would see Israel and the Jews vanish from this world. Sadly, a majority of the Palestinians (as evidenced by the latest poll) share the ideology of Hamas and want to see even more Jews killed. The Biden administration needs to understand that, under the current circumstances, advancing the idea of a "two-state solution" is tantamount to advocating bloodshed and violence in the Middle East. The administration also needs to understand that Abbas, the Palestinian leader it is endeavoring to engage and relying on to make peace, utterly lacks the backing of a majority of his people for any peace plan with Israel.