There has been much chatter and discussion (albeit less than years past) about the UN General Assembly's speeches of Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In his speech on Wednesday, Abbas threatened to declare the Oslo Accords null and void, unless Palestinian demands are met and Israel succumbs to Palestinian dictates, with no need for negotiations. Indeed, Abbas and the Palestinians do not even bother to speak the language of negotiations anymore, and the world is letting them get away with it.
Let us go back in time for a minute: more than just a legal framework, the Oslo Accords were to many a realization of a long time human desire - that by the power of our hearts, our passion for a different future, we will be able to chart a viable course of action and reshape reality as we knew it. History was ours to make and we believed we could do just that.
I know, because I was there. Just about to start my army service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), I was watching the television screens in disbelief, as what was impossible just the day before, was happening before our very eyes: Israeli and Palestinian leaders were standing on the White House Lawn, shaking hands and smiling. Eyes were tearing that day, as a small sliver of hope floated in the air that we were watching history in the making, and a new era of peace is coming upon us, a realization of the ancient vision of the Prophets of Israel (Isaiah, 11:6): "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid".
But soon enough, the same eyes were tearing for a different reason: shortly after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Palestinian terrorists introduced suicide bombings against innocent Israelis. One bus after another, as well as restaurants, coffee shops and kiosks, turned into death traps, as Palestinians wrapping themselves with explosive belts brought about their own deaths while claiming the lives of so many others, young and old, men and women, whose only crime was being Jewish. The blue sky turned red and the dove was nowhere to be seen. A new era has begun, but not the one we were hoping to see.
Why? We asked ourselves. Here we were, standing with our naked desire to trust. Israel has taken the initiative on its own to move forward with the Palestinians in signing the Oslo Accords. No international pressure. No United Nations resolutions, no EU, just one people reaching out to the other and trying to turn a new leaf in the chronicles of a troubled region. But we were betrayed by Palestinian leadership.
However, Israel was not the only one Palestinian leadership let down. The Palestinians themselves have been betrayed by their leaders and their hopes shattered by corruption and crime. A historic opportunity to change the course of history, squandered.
The Oslo process was key to introducing huge amounts of financial aid to the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, who by various accounts are the recipients of the highest levels of aid in the world (some 5 billion dollars from the U.S alone over the years and more than quadruple that amount if you include other countries), both from governments as well as non-governmental organizations.
Where did all this money go? Abbas and his friends hold the answer to that question. Only recently it was reported that Abbas himself was building a multi-million dollar palace in Ramallah. Is this coming from his savings, after years of working as a civil servant? I doubt it. Not to mention the millions of dollars in aid money that simply vanished off the face of the earth into obscure bank accounts far away from the Palestinian homeland, with no explanation whatsoever. In Gaza, Hamas is doing the same: channeling funds away from the daily needs of ordinary Palestinians and into their war machine which will bring nothing but death and destruction on both sides.
The late Israeli Foreign Minister, Abba Eban, is famously quoted saying that "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity". Unfortunately, this has become a modus operandi for the Palestinians, whose leadership squandered the Oslo opportunity to build bridges with the people of Israel, and to create a better future for themselves and their children.
It is time Abbas and the Palestinians are told loudly and clearly: with the desire for sovereignty comes responsibility and accountability! What is true for our children, as we try to educate them to lead a responsible life, is 10 times more so to Palestinian political leadership or any political leadership of any people. No exemptions, no concessions.
Palestinians, Israelis as well as the good citizens of the free world - whose tax money is used to support Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank - all deserve a transparent and honest handling of their investments. Hospitals instead of palaces, roads instead of tunnels, and apartment buildings instead of weapons of war - is the only way hope will reside again in that part of the world, and its all in the hands of Palestinian leadership.
No excuses this time. It is not too late to hold them accountable, for their own sake and ours.
An artists rendering of the new Palestinian palace. (Photo: PECDAR)