"Come back. All is forgiven."

I wonder if these were the words used by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she reportedly called Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas back to the table for yet another mission-impossible round of useless negotiations.

Maybe she just wanted to give him a few home truths, such as: Has there ever been any other (non-) people in the world who have missed and squandered every opportunity that h
"There is no such country as 'Palestine'. 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented! Palestine is alien to us."
as ever come their way? Even before UN Resolution 181, which opened the door for two states, Britain’s 1937 Peel Commission recommended partitioning the land. This prompted Arab leader Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi to state, "There is no such country as 'Palestine'. 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented! Palestine is alien to us."

Less than half a century later, Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat was being courted, pampered and honoured by over-indulgent world leaders, always ready to pour a few hundred million dollars his way. The world press was mesmerized by the seemingly Goliath struggle, and the heartbreaking tales of Hanan Ashrawi having her little swing pulled out of her back garden by the occupation forces.

Maybe Condoleezza called Abbas back to suggest that had “the Palestinians” accepted statehood in 1947, they could, had they had the same grit and motivation, be celebrating almost 60 years of their own achievements. Instead, they waste a whole day every year weeping and wallowing in self-pity, with the only highlight comes in the shape of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan grinning in a cheesy manner in front of some far-fetched map that replaces Israel with a Palestinian state.

Maybe Condoleezza called Abbas back to suggest that had “the Palestinians” not turned their universities, which were only created after 1967, into hotbeds of terrorism recruitment, but, along with such subjects as Law and Electrical Engineering, created an atmosphere of equality and academic excellence, then maybe they could boast that all their higher level education institutions are featured in the world's top 500; like Israel's are.

Maybe Condoleezza called Abbas back to suggest that “the Palestinians” nurture their children and, like Israel does during the holiday of Purim, dress them up as little queens and Spidermen instead of strapping mock suicide belts around them. Maybe she suggested that they allow the kids to watch the Teletubbies instead of endless videos featuring mock Israeli soldiers shooting their mothers, and a whining juvenile from Gaza singing his little heart out for revenge, with his blood.

Maybe Condoleezza called Abbas back to suggest that had “the Palestinians” had the same ethics and motivation as Israel, they would have had Cisco and Microsoft build their only R&D facilities outside of the US in their country. And Bill Gates would have said, “The level of technological integration in the country is evident. The use of fast-speed Internet, laptops and cell phones is advanced here and puts (Palestine) Israel at the cutting edge of world technology.” Instead, the Palestinians seem to put all their hopes for glory and recognition on the world's stage in a viscose-clad Sue Blackwell, photographed in a breezy Birmingham car park, and looking every bit the clown, in a Palestinian flag outfit, and probably on her way to verbally assault little old ladies, who might dare to emerge from the local supermarket with a Jaffa orange.

Maybe Condoleezza called Abbas back to suggest that had “the Palestinians” spent some aid money on their hospitals, there would have been generators. Possibly, during the present internal clashes, they could have taken their injured to their own well-maintained, fully equipped hospitals instead of using the overstretched resources of Israel. Any number of Palestinians are often treated, sometimes long term and often for free, in Israel's superior medical facilities - with the virulent press barely making any mention of it.

Had “the Palestinians” spent some aid money on their hospitals, there would have been generators.

Maybe Condoleezza could have called Abbas back and asked why is it that the Israelis have been able to make the desert bloom and drain the swamps in a country that Mark Twain once described (in his book The Innocents Abroad) as a place of “barren desolation.” With determination and backbreaking work, the Jews produced fertile ground that grows everything from cotton to oranges. Yet, “the Palestinians” who were given beautiful greenhouses left by bereft families in Gaza were able to do almost nothing with this windfall except rip them apart piece by piece, and then burn the synagogues.

Maybe Condoleezza could have called Abbas back, and possibly touched a raw nerve with this Holocaust denier, by suggesting that had they embraced statehood and strived for excellence, their most memorable moment in the Olympic arena would have been for winning gold in the men’s 4x4 relay. Instead, they are known for the cold-blooded murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. As the treasurer of the PLO at the time, Abbas is reported to have provided not only the financing, but his good wishes as well.

Abbas has continued to rob people of dreams. This time it’s under the disguise of nicely woven pure wool suits, which, compared to Arafat’s military attire, label him a "moderate" among those foolish enough to fall for it. For years, he was lackey to Arafat. Maybe his words, even in English, are more sober than Arafat's, but his actions, or principally lack of, speak volumes. School are allowed to continue denying Israel, there have been no arrests of suspected terrorists, and, less than a year ago, Abbas joined PA officials in applauding a young girl who had the following to say: "Even if all the Jews arrived (in Israel) seeking refuge with the monkeys [as Jews are commonly called]... we will never accept compensation for our land.”

This puts a rather unbelieving and demonic face on being a "moderate."

"Come back. All is forgiven."

Yeah, right. Try saying that to the thousands of families in Israel whose lives have been torn apart by Palestinian terrorism and whose loved ones will never come back. For almost two years, we have been forced to listen to solemn platitudes and endless promises coming out of the mouth of this "moderate," Mahmoud Abbas. Worse still, we watch people who court these words as some sort of gospel truth.

Sadly for all concerned, this "moderate" is yet to prove his worth; maybe the time has simply come to let him go. He'll have an opportunity to finally consider that the prize of statehood, for which he supposedly strives, is a reward not handed to all without compromise and hard work.