How many parents would knowingly give in to the demands of a child to avoid tantrums and expect good behavior from now on? How many teachers would give in to students demands for unsupervised recess on the first day of school and expect to control a class for the rest of the year. Only in world politics do people turn dumb and take actions sure to provoke more extreme actions.
Yesterday Sareb Erakat announced that if the UN (read US & President Trump) cuts of fundings to UNRWA, Palestinians will join ISIS. This same threat came out of the mouth of Abu Mazen only several weeks earlier. This is hardly unusual. We have been threatened with Intifada's, and worse if Jews dare venture onto the temple mount, or prevent terrorists from dong so, or install metal detectors like the ones in Mecca that Saudi Arabia considers essential. Days later the meta; Israel removed the metal detectors
Unlike Israelis, Arabs know they are at war. ALWAYS. In the press, the UN, in every speech, on every college campus. When you are at war logic is irrelevant. iIrrational requests can be excellent tactics, especially if they work. Wordfare is powerful whether or not you are short on guns.
Over time experts in wordfare sharpen their skills. If your enemy can credibly say your demands are off the wall, rename the conflict. Use moniker that implies your opponent is the culprit. Thus, Jewish presence on the temple mount is called "disturbing the status quo." ( a suitably vague concept that endorses whatever the 'occuption' allows at any point in time). Palestinians who are obviously entitled to MUCH more than this status quo have every right to be enraged at the mere suggestion of going in the opposite direction. Their cause is viewed as just and that's all that counts.
Facts are irrelevant. Tthe temple mount is the holiest place to Jews and at best, the third holiest place to Muslims. The status quo prohibits Jews from praying on the site of the temple under penalty of arrest. Jews have no right of entry to their second or third holiest places - the tomb of the Patriarchs and of Rachel. NONE OF THIS MATTERS. Jews are drawn to rationality but war is not a debating competition. Reasoning distracts from the dead simple fact - they are fighting and losing wordfare.
Does Israek realize these politica exchanges are war? Unclear. Arabs have no confusion. I,n a war you make demands and threaten which is what they do: " Do NOT disturb the status quo OR there will be riots, intifadas, murders. " The Palestinian 'leaders' despite their good intentons intentions, even the Jordanian King cannot. He enters the scene bearing this news in excellent english telling the west that this is the only way to save the day.
Europe, the United Natoins, The United States and Israel capitulate and when the Palestinians demand more, capitulate again. The west's long tradition of capitulation matches its short time horizon. Hitler tapped into this expertly with explanations about how the Sudetenland was really Germany anyhow or should be - a one of a kind event that had nothing to do with the rest of Europe. And yes, ceding the sudentenland to Germany did delay war for a time. It also convinced Hiler that he could get a lot more.
The status quo phrase is firmly embossed in the news media as a basic right of Palestinians, and since OF COURSE (according to western beliefs) "violence solves nothing", it is to be avoided at all costs. Jewish capitulation of rights to be on the temple mount is a small price compared to the murderous terrorism Arabs have proven they are capable of. And giving in works - in the short term. It also erodes power, cedibility, strengthens the enemy, and weakens you in his eyes. Future conflicts will cost more.
The seductive lure of capitulation and the temporary reprieve it provide is hardly new. No matter how many times this tactic fails, we keep doing it. Palestinians leaders hav eused it to bring weapons into Gaza by calling them humanitarian aid, used the Jordanian Waqf as a way to bring terrorists and weapon on to the temple mount, kill people while gaining sympathy from the world.
Threats CAN stop working and firce you to change tactics, but as long as they work it doesn't really matter. Get away with it for longer and the odds that people will see through your con go down down down... It seemed that nobody would or cared to stand up to Palestinian threats until President Trump made it clear he was neither impressed nor persuaded.
Abbas did not change tactics. In fact, he upped the anti, missing the fact that although he was the UN-appointed unelected emporer of Palestine, he had no clothes and that President Trump knew it. When Trump recognized Jerusalem as Irael's capital, Abbas played the justifiably enraged victim, and announced that the US had proven itself unworthy of a mediator's role. This didn't work either, and the US cut funding to Palestine or so it seemed at the time. After a brief reprieve from U.S. party politics, democrats reconsidered. What about 'purely humanitarian aide'? A mid-easterner might think this a joke.
Form how long can the 'victim who theatens' win the game, wih illogic of his statements and threats? A long time Look back at history before you argue otherwise.
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