NCJ Number
123229
Journal
Terrorism Volume: 11 Issue: 5 Dated: (1988) Pages: 355-357
Date Published
1988
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Fundamentalism -- the refusal to compromise in the belief that God wills your goals -- undermines every attempt to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict vis-a-vis Palestine.
Abstract
Until relatively recently, Arab Palestinian fundamentalists rejected the fact and the concept of the partitioning of Palestine. They were unwilling to accept a settlement that assigned any of Palestine to the Jews. After the establishment of the State of Israel, which all Arab states continue to affirm was illegal, the Palestinians, primarily through the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), continued to fight for the elimination of Israel as a State. More recently, the PLO has expressed a willingness to accept a partitioning that would give the Palestinians self-determination as a State encompassing the West Bank and Gaza. It is questionable, however, whether Palestinian fundamentalists would remain content with such a small state that would be economically dependent on markets accessible only through Jordan to the east and Israel to the West. A more practical solution is to make the West Bank and Gaza part of Jordan, but under a revised Jordanian government that would permit meaningful Palestinian involvement in government.