To the editor:
David Halbfinger, Adam Rasgon and Mohammed Najib, in "For Palestinian Police, Much to Lose if Israel Annexes West Bank Land," paint a tear-jerking picture of the problems faced by Palestinian Authority police as their national project has been thrown into doubt by "Israel’s threat to annex parts of the West Bank."
The possibility of Israel applying sovereignty (the term "annexation" is inapplicable) to some portions of the disputed territory, most of which would remain with Israel under any conceivable peace agreement, would not in any way throw the Palestinian Arab "national project" into doubt.
What is doubtful is whether there has ever been such a project, given that the Palestinian Arabs spurned offers and opportunities to complete such a project in 1937, 1947, 2000, 2001, 2008 and reportedly 2014, among others.
Today, the leaders of the Palestinian Arabs insist they will take the step, necessary to implement that project, of negotiating with Israel.
Sincerely,
Alan Stein