The title sounds incendiary, I know. But I'm not asking whether Palestinians can prove themselves against Israeli claims. Rather, I wonder ...
1) Do Arab regimes and global jihadis consider Palestinians to be sovereign, and;
2) Do Palestinians consider themselves to be sovereign.
I think the answer to both questions is NO. Here's why.
"I call on them (Muslims) to refuse any Palestinian referendum," said Zawahri. "Palestine is not for bargaining and bidding."
He also
"rejected as an 'Arab capitulation initiative' a 2002 Arab League peace proposal, which offered Israel normal relations in return for withdrawal to borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.
But, here's what's so interesting about the 2002 peace proposal, the Palestinians weren't represented.
President Lahoud spent almost all day at Beirut International Airport on Tuesday, as the airplanes carrying the heads of delegations landed in the rain and against a grey landscape of a choppy sea.
Delegates and journalists last night were still awaiting to see whether Palestinian President Yasser Arafat would participate in the summit.
Arafat decided later in the evening to skip the summit, rejecting Israeli conditions including the right to veto his return to Palestinian territories, aides said.
The Palestinian leader, confined by Israel to Ramallah since early December, on Tuesday rejected conditions set by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his participation in the summit. Israel said Arafat must first accept its terms for a cease-fire before being allowed to travel. Sharon also said he would bar the Palestinian president from returning if he “incites violence” while in Beirut or if any attack against Israel is launched during his absence.
The summit, however, would discuss the Saudi initiative even in his absence, Arab leaders and officials have said.
So, basically, what we have is:
1) a bunch of leaders of Arab states developing a proposal, voting on it, and making long-term decisions about Palestinian sovereignty without Palestinians being represented or having a say on their own behalf;
2) Number 2 in the global jihad rejecting the Palestinian president's proposal for a referendum (a democratic national vote), saying Palestine is not for bargaining on behalf of the world's Muslims;
and
3) Palestinian leaders never coming out to tell any of them to shut the hell up or having really taken charge of their own affairs in the face of Arab and Muslim leadership.
If it were me, I would stand up and tell them that there is only one leader of the Palestinian people, and that it's a Palestinian, not a Saudi, not an Egyptian ... a Palestinian born and raised there. And I would also say that Palestinians will negotiate and determine the borders of their homeland, not anybody else. But they don't. They stand silently as they are told what to do. Fatah, HAMAS, all of them, refuse to stand tall as the only masters of their domain while other leaders make decisions for them.
So, my questions therefore are ... are Palestinians really a sovereign people? If so, according to whom?