Daniel Pipes addresses the Palestinian Authority’s possible collapse, and the matter that lies at the heart of it all:
The question now facing Palestinians is whether they have learned the right lessons from their bitter experience. That for once they are not blaming Israel for their problems gives some reason for optimism. Cox News Service notes that, “as the disorder spreads, Palestinian intellectuals and politicians are increasingly looking past Israel as the usual scapegoat and admitting they share a part of the blame.” National Public Radio quotes a Palestinian saying that the PA is in trouble “because many people are being killed or kidnapped or robbed…We are all accusing the government of not doing anything.” A poll by the Gaza-based General Institute for Information finds that just 29 percent of Palestinians hold Israelis responsible for the PA’s failure to enforce law and order.
This is a good start. But to emerge from their political predicament requires Palestinians coming to terms with the existence of the Jewish state of Israel. So long as they resist this change of heart, the Somali model remains their fate.
