Eight Crucial Questions for Abbas (and One for President Obama)

by John Ryan
March 15, 2014 at 2:30 pm

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4216/obama-abbas-meeting

Question #1: Does Israel have a right to exist?

There seems to be a double-standard when it comes to how Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority's erstwhile President, Mahmoud Abbas -- now in the tenth year of his four-year term -- are treated by the Obama White House, as well as by many journalists. While Netanyahu is humiliated, insulted, threatened, and told that he must make "painful concessions" for peace, such as releasing more than 100 terrorists merely to get the Palestinians to come to a negotiating table, Abbas – a facilitator and supporter of these terrorists – is treated with kid gloves, and with Obama virtually begging him to visit.

President Barack Obama meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office in 2009. (Image source: Official White House photo)

Here, however, are some questions, starting with the most important, that should be posed to Abbas when he takes a seat in the White House on March 17:

Does Israel have a right to exist?
Yasser Arafat, the first president of the Palestinian Authority [PA], accepted Israel as a Jewish state, and the homeland of the Jewish people. As the recent UNESCO exhibit documented, Jews have been on Israeli land, and in the disputed areas in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) for 3,500 years, 2,000 years prior to the advent of Islam. You, however, recently said that you do not accept Israel as a Jewish state. Why?
Will you stop using the humanitarian aid money given to you by the U.S. and the U.N. for prohibited purposes, such as paying salaries to and glorifying terrorists, and inciting mass hatred against Jews, even among Palestinian children?
Why did you not immediately fire Jibril Rajoub, the supposedly "moderate" senior PA official, after he said in May 2013 that if the PA had a nuclear bomb, it would drop it on Israel that very day?
Are you prepared to make any concessions to advance the peace process? For example, will you rescind your July 2013 statement that if you get your own state, not a single Jew will be allowed anywhere within it?
If you strike a deal for peace, how will you ensure that all Palestinian parties, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, uphold it; that the next president of the PA does not say, "Abbas signed that; I did not."?
If and when you get a Palestinian state, will you announce – in Arabic – that this agreement brings an end to the conflict?
And will you then formally order the PA to stop glorifying terrorists and calling for the destruction of Israel in the Palestinian media, school textbooks, summer camps, sports stadiums, crossword puzzles and other outlets?

It would be telling to hear how Abbas answers these questions.

It would also be telling to hear how President Barack Obama answers one question: If Abbas refuses to agree to these "painful concessions," will you stop issuing executive waivers that enable American taxpayer money to still be sent to him, even though you know it is being used for prohibited purposes?

John Ryan, a journalist based in the US, also writes for The Daily Caller.

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Comment on this item

16 Reader Comments

Fritz Kohlhaas • Mar 17, 2014 at 17:18

Obama will not answer the question. He will do nothing and lie.

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David Most • Mar 16, 2014 at 15:21

Well written column whose questions for Obama have known answers. He has been obsequious toward Abbas as though Abbas is really ready to negotiate anything with Israel. Why our President continues to not see reality in the Middle East is the big question of our time. It appears that there are rose colored filters welded to his eyelids!

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Robert Davis • Mar 16, 2014 at 13:51

Obama of course is bent on destroying Israel, but I must say Netanyahu has shown he is a perfect political tool when he accepted the principle of a third state in Palestine! On top of that he never cites San Remo and Sevres allotting Palestine to Jews, never claims Israel's sovereignty over Western Palestine after Jews already lost Eastern Palestine to Arabs illegally, etc. Since Netanyahu does not defend Israel's rights, I am not surprised its enemies take advantage of his stupidity and cowardice. Now he must either cancel his accepting such an Arab state or leave office. He is not the man Israel needs at this place.

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Diogenes • Mar 16, 2014 at 09:02

If you reject the idea that Kerry is simply stupid, his distortion of the question of a Jewish state and laying blame on Israel for what seems the inevitable failure of his diplomacy makes sense from the point of view of his master's desire no longer to be known as Israel's ally in the Middle East, where he intends instead to have an entente with Iran. The State Department has given this scenario great attention, and given Obama's gut dislike of Netanyahu, who humiliated him, it makes that kind of sense.

Yes, the UN, "the international community", recognized the Jewish state of Israel, and five Arab countries consequently tried to wipe it off the map. Yes, Arafat, twenty years ago, said he accepted a Jewish state of Israel, before he walked away from a deal without any counter proposals.

Sixty-six percent of the Palestinians polled in Cisjordan were for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. Who's in denial?

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Leon Poddebsky • Mar 15, 2014 at 23:07

The Obama Administration is quite timid in the face of Assad, Putin, Rouhani and other assorted VIP's, but is unafraid to flex its muscles in Israel's face. There is a lesson in this for Israel and the world in general.

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Ephesian

Leon Poddebsky • Mar 16, 2014 at 04:40

Exactly! Bully boy Obama at his best. As someone said about the recent ongoing troubles in the Ukraine,"Obama stared into Putin's eyes...and blinked". He was careful not to go too far with Mr.Putin (and anyway, Russia's a teeny bit bigger than Israel), yet thinks he can wade in on the side of the Palestinians against Israel. Beware! As a President who has stated "I will always stand with the Muslims" Obama has made it pretty clear where his loyalties lie.

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NuritG • Mar 15, 2014 at 22:36

Another question to add would be "You recently said that you do not accept Israel as a Jewish state", then what do you accept it as?

Asking Abbas to rescind his July, 2013 statement that if he gets his own state, not a single Jew will be allowed to live anywhere within is not a concession! That is his condition and demand, in addition to many others.

The question needs to be: Are you prepared to null and void your July, 2013 statement that if you get your own state, it will be a Judenrein state?

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Bart Benschop • Mar 15, 2014 at 22:22

Dear Sir,

Mr. Mahmoud Abbas is the President of the Palestinian Authority. As a Muslim he submits to Al Shari'iah, The Law of Allah, His Name be praised. Muslim leaders lead on authority of Al Ulama, the body of authorised Muslim scholars. Elections other than those by Al Ulama are illegal in Al Shari'iah. As a Muslim Mr. Mahmoud Abbas and Mr. Yasser Arafat, when dealing with non-Muslims, is obliged to lie in the Name of Allah, Taqiyya. It is not what Mr. Mahmoud Abbas says, it is what he does. The problem is that President Barack Hussein Obama should know better, especially with his Muslim education. Israelis like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignore what is said and deal with what is done.

Kind regards,

Bart Benschop

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Jerry • Mar 15, 2014 at 21:07

The talks are doomed to fail. Israel will take the heat. Why would the Palestinians want peace? Right now, they are getting handouts for doing nothing from the UN and the EU. What would they do if the talks were successful?

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Minicapt • Mar 15, 2014 at 21:02

Unless Yasser stated his acceptance of a Jewish state in Arabic, before an Arab audience, on an Arab formal occasion, he was probably not telling the full truth.

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Steve Klein • Mar 15, 2014 at 18:54

Yasser Arafat formally accepted Israel as a Jewish state. In return Israel got the murderous Oslo years with better than one thousand Jews murdered and many thousands maimed for life. Why should we expect any difference in the event Mahmoud Abbas utters these formulaic words? I do not support the establishment of a Palestinian state in Israel (in Judea and Samaria) in the first instance, but for those who do, why would they expect an announcement from Abbas (in Arabic – only after an agreement is reached), to bring an end to the conflict? Why would anyone accept that only after an agreement is reached (after the Palestinians got their state) Abbas should issue a formal order to the PA to stop glorifying terrorists and calling for the destruction of Israel in the Palestinian media, school textbooks, summer camps, sports stadiums, crossword puzzles and other outlets? Why would any self-respecting people give up precious land to peoples who glorify terrorists' calls for your destruction in their media, school textbooks, summer camps, sports stadiums, crossword puzzles and other outlets?

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Ephesian

Steve Klein • Mar 16, 2014 at 04:33

Here's a question for the world and Obama....what has it got to do with you? Who gives you the right to ask if Israel has a right to exist and the Israeli people a right to where they are now? Is Obama calling Mr. Netanyahu when he wants to pass a certain law or build on land somewhere? No, he just goes right ahead. Is Obama going to hand back America to the Native Indians who originally owned it? If not, why not? Israel is the only place where people think they have a right to tell them what to do with their land and even entertain the reasoning that Israel and the Israeli people have a right to exist at all! Israel does not have to do anything and is not answerable to anyone else, just as we living in our countries expect to be able to conduct our own affairs. We need to butt out. God bless Israel and the Jews.

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John Ryan

Steve Klein • Mar 17, 2014 at 17:50

Hi Steve -

Thanks for the questions. The only answer I can offer is, that Abbas continuously claims he wants peace with Israel, right? And peace is supposedly the target, the objective. So let's remove the specifics for now.

Let's just pretend we have one no-named "people" who are on the one hand making it appear that they are claiming to want peace with a neighboring people - yet the first "people" keep engaging in terrorism, indoctrination of children, misuse of "humanitarian aid" money, etc. If both parties are being pushed to make "peace," and the representative of those first "people" is not confronted with such basic questions as will he stop engaging in all this if he gets his state, as part of the "peace" deal, then we will get exactly the "peace" deal that we deserve, for so chronically deceiving ourselves, and allowing our "leaders" to deceive us.

Most people, particularly in the West, have zero idea of what is really being done with our aid money by the Palestinians, because reporters simply will not reveal what giants like Itamar Marcus (PMW) and Gerald Steinberg (NGO-Monitor) expose. It's time to end the charade, and find a way to publicly pose these questions to the Palestinian leadership, and compel them to answer - as a condition of releasing one more penny of aid money to them.

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Mark Mathias • Mar 15, 2014 at 17:12

It actually is a good idea to ask these questions. Notwithstanding, we know the answer to the most important question -- "Does Israel have the right to exist?" Even if they say, "Yes" (through some diplomatic coercion), we all know the answer. Likewise, since Obama is in his second and last term, he is out of the closet on how he really feels. Even if he says, "Yes," does anyone really believe he will act according to that response?

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Norman Baillie • Mar 15, 2014 at 15:54

"Does Abbas, as the leader of the PA (West Bank), speak for Hamas (Gaza Strip)? And if so, will Hamas agree to abide by any agreements made by the PA on their behalf?"

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J.A. Hughman • Mar 15, 2014 at 15:20

We must remember, they've voted for a Community Organizer to become the President of the United States; someone who has obvious reservations about releasing his College Transcripts, which usually tends to indicate that someone cannot be too proud about those transcripts. Elections have consequences!

Here and now, a person with common sense and suitable skepticism could rightfully question exactly how this President might have benefited from Affirmative Action. There have been questionable statements made by this President, referencing the US Constitution. Yet, he was a supposedly a Constitutional Scholar?

I'm prepared to state this President is the most unqualified, unprepared and unable President in America's history. He is surrounded by people who are less able than he, and this is a consequence America and the World have to deal with.

If America's voters had to pass a very simple intelligence test before they get their voter registration card, this man might never have been elected President the first time, let alone re-elected. America will survive this debacle - I sincerely hope Israel can too!

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