Is it really peace they want?Palestinian banner. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
It’s a tragic but consistent trend: Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are accompanied by terrorist attacks against Israel. In more recent years, it’s been shootings, but on Sunday terrorists took out a terrifying page from an old playbook and tried a bus bombing near the city of Tel Aviv. Thankfully, the bus was evacuated in time and no one was killed, according to The Times of Israel.
Not surprisingly, Palestinian terror groups were quick to praise the attack. The Times of Israel reported that a spokesperson for Hamas told the terror group’s TV station that “the Jews need to pay a price” and that they “welcome the operation.”
Hamas spokesperson Moshir al-Masri further said on Al Aqsa TV that the attack proves that Palestinian terrorists can “reach deep” into Israel.
If that wasn’t bad enough, another major Palestinian terror group, Islamic Jihad, had a senior member tell Al Aqsa TV that the Palestinians are “on the verge” of renewing attacks on Israel.
All this violence comes as Israel-Palestinian peace talks are reaching a critical stage. With roughly four months to go before a self-imposed deadline for reaching a deal, the US is now making their own peace proposals to stimulate one.
According to the Ma’an News Agency, US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to present a framework deal to the sides by December 31. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the proposal would include American thoughts on the borders for a future Palestinian state.
Yet it’s difficult to imagine this working well, with Abbas’ political rivals in Hamas praising bus bombings and other Palestinian groups threatening more violence. Hamas even repeated their rejection of the Israel-Palestinian peace talks this weekend on their website. The group, which governs roughly 40 percent of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, went so far as to say that the Israel-Palestinian negotiating process “goes against the Palestinian consensus that opposes the negotiations.”
Of course, for Israel, the latest violence from Palestinian extremists casts another pall over the “peace talks.” While the Palestinians are working to achieve their goal of carving a state out of Israel’s Biblical homeland, Israel would like some peace.
So far, that’s not happening. Makes you wonder about the “peace” process, doesn’t it?
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, December 22, 2013)