Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Palfour Declaration

Here's the Palestinian 'President' Mahmoud Abbas' version of 'the vision thing' in the lead-up to the Palestinian Authority's bid to seek UN membership for a Palestinian state later this month:

"We don't want to isolate Israel but to live with it in peace and security. We don't want to delegitimize Israel. We want to legitimize ourselves. We have good coordination [with Israel] to prevent terror and keep the situation calm and quiet. We will continue to do our job. Security will prevail as long as I'm in office." (Abbas affirms Palestinian bid for UN membership, Ethan Bronner, nytimes.com, 5/9/11)

Yet as inspiring as Abbas' vision thingy is, I think the Palestinians could do better. Heaps better. So, in the spirit of 'what's good for the goose is good for the gander', and drawing on precedent, here's the text I think the Palestinians should be taking to the UN:

'The United Nations view with favour the establishment in Israel of a national home for the Palestinian people, and will use its best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of the existing Jewish communities in Israel, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.'

Way to go!

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