Palestinian Authority UN Bid: An Open Letter to the Mayor of Paris

The mayor of Paris, french socialist Bertrand Delanoë. Photo: LPLT.

The Mayor of Paris recently came out with a declaration calling for France to support the upcoming Palestinian Authority bid at the UN for them to receive observer status, here is my response to him.

Dear Mr. Delanoë,

Your comments are unfortunately naive because the reality on the ground is very different from your utopian and idealistic vision. Recognition by the UN today of observer status for the Palestinian Authority will mean Palestine as a whole, including Gaza. This  would be an irresponsible political action in times so perilous to the existence of the state of Israel threatened with extinction by the sponsor of Hamas, Iran. France should act towards Peace, not provocation. President Obama himself asked President Abbas to withdraw his application and begin talks with the Israelis in order to advance the process leading to a two states solution. This path requires great attention and support from the international community to ensure the success of any  treaty. A deviation in  time will only push these complex talks away . Western embassies all agreed on this approach, realizing the danger of the Palestinian demand and its immediate consequences.

President Hollande in private clearly doubts the prudence of the timing of this Palestinian demand.

If universal democratic elections would be held today in the West Bank, Hamas will handily win the election and become the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. So implicitly the Palestinians would be represented by an entity recognized as a terrorist organization, which denies the existence of the state of Israel and is dedicated to its physical and moral destruction.

The persistent refusal of President Abbas for 4 years to meet unconditionally with Israeli Prime Minister is a clear illustration of his intent to delegitimize the state of Israel by any means possible.

You do not respond to obstructionists to peace by rewarding them, it would be a serious mistake that will ignite the  peace process started in  Oslo. Your reasoning is flawed and will have serious repercussions on the future of the already heavily damaged negotiation process.

Peace is a fight that requires courage and boldness, Abbas is not Sadat unfortunately and all his diplomatic subterfuges did not advance the Palestinian cause one iota.

A Palestinian state is to be negotiated with Israel and not at the  UN where the majority of countries represented are dictatorships contemptuous of the Declaration of Human Rights, a French contribution to universal justice, the most beautiful tribute of France to the international community.

Mr . Mayor you are wrong.

Sincerely,
Ron Agam