Clarify the message and win the hearts and minds of the Plestinians.

Submitted by RPaine (Australia), Sep 10, 2003 at 16:06

Dear Daniel,

Absolutely! The Palestinians (like so many others in the Arab world) see concessions as a sign of weakness. When are we going to learn? They will never be won over by concessions; in fact, concessions may be a big part of the problem. Simply, in the West, giving a concession is intended to encourage the relationship, but this paradigm cannot be directly transposed to Palestine and expect it to work exactly the same.

There are many example of things that the Palestinians do (have done) that we cannot comprehend: teaching their children to blow themselves up (is the blatantly obvious one), Palestinian like to portray themselves as the "victim" (for the media= (negotiating power)+(concessions) , and concession=(cash reward)+ (land)+(the illusion of victory), etc.)...

Thanks,
RPaine

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