For several days now, the Trump administration has been imposing all sorts of budget cuts on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, even canceling the funding of activities intended to bring young Palestinians and Israelis together. Nevertheless, with just a few days until he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly meeting, it looks like Abbas is convinced that he is on the right path and that he is comfortable with it. Abbas is proud of his involvement in the Oslo Accord. He believes that this agreement was of enormous importance, and that it altered the situation throughout the region. He said that if there ever comes a time, when the Palestinians conclude that they can no longer continue with their commitments, the implications will be dire. And now, as then, Abbas cannot understand what Palestinians and Israelis with no interest in peace really hope to achieve. What is their alternative? The total annihilation of the other? Of themselves?
Abbas has a hard time understanding the Israeli government’s policy toward the Gaza Strip. It was once agreed that the Palestinians could establish a port along the Gaza coast, as well as an airport. Now there is talk of a port in Cyprus and an airport in Eilat, Israel. Does anyone seriously think that this is a solution to the problems of Gaza? Why are Israeli representatives now pressuring Abbas to pay the salaries of bureaucrats in Gaza, and why are they willing to forego the principle of a single Palestinian armed force and one set of laws for all Palestinians? What’s happening with you, Abbas asks? Historically, that was what you always demanded of us, wasn’t it?
