Hitchens, this time somewhat right

Christopher Hitchens has for once abandoned his firm platform of intellectual dishonesty when it comes to anything Israeli and asks a pretty good question in Slate:

There is also an element of condescension in the "corruption" explanation. Hamas says that it wants an Islamic state all the way from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. It publishes and promulgates the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Why not assume that it is at least partly serious about all this?

Of course, then he makes some outright false assertions to make sure that Israel still is at fault for every problem in the world:

For years, the PLO leadership has been at least officially committed to a two-state solution and has at least officially made a distinction between Judaism and Zionism. It has also renounced the disgusting tactic of suicide murder.

and:

Only imagine if the Israelis had been forced to recognize a West Bank and Gaza state when the PLO first accepted it 20 years ago.

Let's be clear here:

• The PLO has never been committed to a two-state solution, unless you count such proposals as "sure, Jews can have a little protectorate near Haifa with occasional visitation rights to the Western Wall."
• The PLO has never made a real distinction between Judaism and Zionism, unless you count the Judaism of Neturei Karta as the only "true" form of Judaism.
• The PLO has never renounced the disgusting tactic of suicide murder. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is a part of Fatah, and neither Arafat nor Abbas stopped glorifying "martyrs."
• The PLO has never accepted a West Bank and Gaza state, and certainly not 20 years ago. I don't even know how Hitchens hallucinated this.

(Hitchens also buys into the rumor that Israel sponsored Hamas in order to create conflict among Palestinians, and that may be true. But the same argument goes: if Palestinians didn't want Hamas, it would never have gotten off the ground.)

If only Hitchens could dispense with the self-righteous, misguided, unfounded, and frankly suspicious Israel-bashing, we could concentrate on his real point, which is that Palestinians have only created difficulty for themselves with this election.

Comments

[Rune from Oslo]

The chapters in PLO's charter calling for Israel's destruction were formally removed in 1998 which means PLO negotiated about a two state solution at the Madrid conference and during the Oslo process while still being committed to the destruction of Israel.
The original charter is still displayed at Palestine’s UN delegation.

Source:
http://www.mideastweb.org/plocha.htm

[yoram]

hello-
i read the argument about the irgun bombing in markets etc.
this is a subject many people do not know about. i keep telling them that the person who directed me to the official history of the irgun, published by the herut party, was none other than nathan yellin mor, the last co-commander of the lehi, who - when the state of israel was establishe,d became a leader of the israeli peace camp...
you are right, and the notice posted against you should be removed.
best,
yoram