Contrary to what Peace Now members and many others think, the Palestinians don’t want peace. Why would they? If you think that they’ve finally come to grips with the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East, they haven’t. If you think they feel that they’re under pressure and must make peace now, they don’t. If you think they want to give up receiving largesse and sympathy from the West, they haven’t. And if you think that Hamas would acquiesce to the Palestine Authority signing a peace treaty to end the conflict with the Jews, you’re really wrong!

Most Palestinians, most Arabs, and most Muslims cannot stand the idea that the Jewish state of Israel controls their third most holy city, Jerusalem. They cannot stomach the idea that the tiny Jewish population, just six million or so, has been able to remain sovereign over “Arab land” for more than sixty years. They cannot believe that more than 300 million Arabs in the Middle East can’t rid themselves of pesky Israel, which remains a dagger in their collective neck. Furthermore, they believe that their virtual control of the United Nations, the growing influence and power of Iran, the gradual takeover of Western Europe by Muslim immigrants, and the rise of global jihad will reverse this terrible situation in months, years, decades, or even a century or two. They can wait.

Therefore, there is no reason to compromise with Israel in any way other than a temporary truce, which will last only until Israel can be eliminated. There is no pressure to make peace now, because the Palestinians are clearly the better negotiators. Since negotiations began in 1993 (Oslo Accord) and Israel accepted the idea of trading land for peace, have the Palestinians had to give up anything? Have they put forward any confidencebuilding measures to placate the Israelis? Why should they? Israeli negotiators, of their own accord – or because of intense pressure from their Western allies – come forward to make concessions without any need for reciprocation. The Palestinian leaders certainly aren’t suffering, so they can wait for as long as it takes until Israel gives them everything they want. As for the Palestinian masses, most of them have been fed enough Jew-hatred to blame Jews and Israel, not their leaders, for all their problems.

If the Palestinians sign a peace treaty, they’ll lose much of the aid from the Gulf Arab states, Western European states, America, and the United Nations. The Palestinians have received more than $1 billion in international donations annually over the past decade, by far the most foreign aid per capita of any people on earth. The annual amount of aid is greater than one-fourth of the entire Palestinian economy. (Israel receives up to $3 billion annually from the U.S., but almost all of it must be spent in America on military equipment.) The Palestinian Authority (West Bank) is ranked number 9 in GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate and after Qatar, is ranked second highest in the Arab world. Their per capita GDP is ranked 166 out of 227 countries, not so impressive, but higher than that of Arab countries like Yemen, Sudan, and Mauritania. On the scale of HDI (human development index) they rank higher than those three countries as well as Morocco and nearby Egypt. Additionally, if the Palestinians made peace with Israel, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (NRWA) organization would be disbanded. UNRWA is the only refugee organization sponsored by the United Nations to deal with a unique population: the Palestinians. It’s a gravy train which employs tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Palestinians living in Gaza are worse off than those in the West Bank ... for good reason. Their benighted existence is a product of their choosing Hamas to run things. Unlike the West Bank where the PA (basically, the Fatah party) rules and talks about peacemaking, in English (not Arabic), Hamas makes no bones about its raison d’être: the destruction of Israel. There will be no peace negotiations at all if Hamas wrests control from the PA, which is likely if Israel withdrew the IDF from the West Bank. While temporary ceasefires with infidels are permitted by the Koran, a Jewish state on “Arab land” is forbidden. The Gazan Arabs have been left out of the current negotiations. Since the PA can only negotiate on behalf of West Bank Arabs, no meaningful peace treaty can conceivably result. Even the validity of the PA to negotiate is questionable, since President Mahmud Abbas unilaterally extended his term for another year in January 2009 and continues in office even after that deadline.

To summarize, the Palestinians don’t want or need peace. They are content to wait around until a feckless Israeli leader gives them everything that they need to usurp the Jewish state. While they are waiting, the ruling class lives very high and the rest hardly complain, since they’re better off than many other Arabs. Meanwhile, the world powers court them and elevate their “plight” far above any other in the world.

The world’s Muslim countries are content with the situation too, because Israel is useful to them as a target for the unease of the Arab masses. Israelis want a peace treaty, such as it has with Egypt and Jordan, but that appears to be unobtainable for the foreseeable future. So, who needs peace negotiations besides President Obama and other Western leaders?

Stephen Kramer’s new book,“Encountering Israel – Geography, History, Culture,” can be ordered in Israel from mskramer@jhu.edu, or order worldwide at: www.comteqpublishing.com.

Stephen Kramer resided and worked in the Atlantic City area until 1991, when he moved to Israel with his wife, Michal Langweiler, and two sons. He can be reached at Sjk1@jhu.edu.