Cart before the horse

A recent opinion piece in the Jordan Times says that the Arab countries are willing to bail the US out of its Iraq "quandary", but only if President Bush gives the Palestinians a state right now. Asking the Palestinians to stop their terrorist actions and incitement against Jews before they are given a state would be, in the author's words, like "placing the cart before the horse."

Bush should be told that even moderate Arab regimes are in no position to collaborate with the Americans in Iraq while Palestinians are under a colonial occupation. He should also be told frankly that nobody in our region is convinced by his old argument that a Palestinian state on the June 4 borders cannot be established as long as “terror” continues. It is time that the Americans listen to us for once and understand that the root cause of Palestinian violence is the Israeli occupation. True, I and many others have been arguing about the necessity for the Palestinians to put an end to the Intifada; however, the American stipulation that Palestinians “surrender” is like placing the cart before the horse. Worse even, it portrays America as a dishonest broker, thus providing anti-American forces in this part of the world with further ammunition.

Meanwhile, MEMRI has an interesting article regarding the latest Palestinian textbooks for 11th graders.