When peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in late September following the Israeli government’s refusal to extend its West Bank construction ban, there were hopes that the passage of a few weeks would allow passions to cool and negotiations to resume. Nothing of the sort has happened, and there’s nothing to indicate that peace talks will resume any time soon. An announcement by a top Palestinian official on Tuesday shows how far apart the two sides remain.
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that his government had bankrolled the remodeling of 14 private schools for Palestinian students in east Jerusalem. There’s nothing wrong with renovating schools, particularly in places where Palestinian youngsters do not have adequate facilities. The location of the 14 schools, however, is more a political statement and rebuke of Israeli policy than it is a sign of educational progress.
The schools are located in east Jerusalem, which is hotly disputed territory. Palestinians say the area, along with the West Bank and Gaza, will be a part of their future state, which will have Jerusalem as its capital. Not so, says Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly has told the Palestinians and the world that his country will not relinquish east Jerusalem, which was captured in the 1967 Mideast War and subsequently annexed by the Jewish state. Fayyad’s Tuesday announcement, then, is a public challenge to Israel and a reiteration of Palestinian claims to the territory. The renovated schools and similar projects in the area funded by Palestinian authorities are provocation that will quickly become additional obstacles to the resumption of peace negotiations.
Indeed, return to the talks seems especially unlikely at the moment. Even before Tuesday’s provocation, Palestinians had said they’d refuse to negotiate until Israel restored its ban on construction in territories that Palestinians say are integral to their future state. Israel, for the moment, refuses to renew the ban. Indeed, since the moratorium was lifted, construction on more than 600 homes has started in the West Bank. There are plans for more.