Israelis believed that by entering into peace talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), precursor to today's Palestinian Authority, that the latter had eschewed violence.
Most Israelis now know that they were wrong, and that the Palestinian leadership and the various groups that dominate Palestinian society continue to view violence against Israelis as a legitimate means to achieving their objectives.
But the international community, and especially the mainstream international press, has inexplicably taken the Palestinian leadership at its word, or at least at its word in English.
Because in Arabic, the Palestinian leadership continues to admit freely that it practices and will continue to practice violence against Israel.
The above video features a report on Gaza's Alkofiya TV that aired on January 1 of this year. The armed group shown conducting military exercises simulating an attack on an Israeli army base and the abduction of Israeli soldiers is not Hamas. It is the Fatah movement headed by "moderate" Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas' representative in the video, a masked man identified as Abu Muhammad, confirms that Fatah, and therefore the Palestinian Authority, remains committed to its founding principle of seeking the "annihilation of the so-called 'Israel.'"
How, then, is Israel supposed to conclude a lasting peace agreement with these people?
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