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From today's edition of The Jerusalem Post:
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has ruled out any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
“There is not going to be a unilateral declaration of statehood,” Fayyad told The Media Line during a private meeting in his office. “What’s the point? We did that in 1988, and what did it get us?”
Such a declaration indicates that at least some among the senior Palestinian leadership understand that a Palestinian state cannot be established through a unilateral declaration. Such a declaration would have little impact, other than undermining negotiations due to a breach of trust, as the declared "state" would lack jurisdiction in disputed areas it attempted to claim as its own. At the same time, the breach of trust would open the door for Israel to make its own unilateral declarations e.g., annexing settlement areas that might otherwise be ceded in negotiations. The overall impact would be a further setback along the difficult road to peace.
In the end, given existing power realities and the need for a Palestinian state to gain legitimacy, such a state can only emerge through negotiations. Toward that end, the sooner the Palestinian leadership agrees to direct negotiations, the sooner substantive progress can become possible toward that outcome.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has ruled out any unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
“There is not going to be a unilateral declaration of statehood,” Fayyad told The Media Line during a private meeting in his office. “What’s the point? We did that in 1988, and what did it get us?”
Such a declaration indicates that at least some among the senior Palestinian leadership understand that a Palestinian state cannot be established through a unilateral declaration. Such a declaration would have little impact, other than undermining negotiations due to a breach of trust, as the declared "state" would lack jurisdiction in disputed areas it attempted to claim as its own. At the same time, the breach of trust would open the door for Israel to make its own unilateral declarations e.g., annexing settlement areas that might otherwise be ceded in negotiations. The overall impact would be a further setback along the difficult road to peace.
In the end, given existing power realities and the need for a Palestinian state to gain legitimacy, such a state can only emerge through negotiations. Toward that end, the sooner the Palestinian leadership agrees to direct negotiations, the sooner substantive progress can become possible toward that outcome.