Riyad Mansour is the Palestinian UN Observer Mission representative. An Observer Mission does not have all the rights and privileges of a full UN Member Mission. But this does not stop Riyad Mansour from speaking his mind at every opportunity and whenever the spirit moves him. In a recent interview posted online Mansour said, among other things:

Israel "did not ask permission to declare a state in 1948, the US did not ask the British for permission to declare a state in 1776. Our declaration of state in a natural right and not a unilateral act," he said.

This quote raised my eyebrows for a number of reasons, but mainly because it has no relation to the truth in general or historical truth in particular.

For example, what does Mansour mean by stating that “Israel did not ask permission to declare a state?” No one ever suggested such a thing. The idea is absurd and meaningless in the context of Mansour’s statement. But his rationale in stating (deceitfully) that asking permission to declare a state was a factor in the historical scenario simply buttresses his arrogant and baseless claim that Palestinian statehood is a “natural right”.

Mansour’s point is that of course the Palestinians do not need to ask permission to declare a state. A Palestinian state is a Palestinian natural right. But this is also a deceitful and ignorant distortion of the facts. In politics and in the process of establishing a sovereign state the concept of “natural right” has no place whatsoever.  T

he territory of Palestine was not partitioned into a Jewish and an Arab state on the basis of any “natural right”. Partition was the logical response to resolving a serious and complex political problem in Palestine. The problem was exacerbated following partition because the Palestinians violently rejected the idea of conceding any rights in Palestine whatsoever to Jews, natural or otherwise. The Jews of Palestine had no option but to fight for survival.

So besides distorting reality by bringing up the false concept of permission, Mansour is also evading the collective responsibility of the Palestinian people for their own statelessness today. Had the Palestinians only accepted the partition plan in 1947 as David Ben Gurion did, the playing out of history since then would be completely different.

There is more in Mansour’s statement that warrants scrutiny. For example, he compares the creation of a Palestinian state to the US revolution against British colonial rule that created the United States of America. But this comparison also is totally idiotic and groundless.

The West Bank and Gaza are by no means colonial possessions. And they never have been. Unlike the US patriots who fought hard to overcome the British in the interest of freedom independence and justice, the Palestinian statehood initiative is essentially aimed to knife Israel in the back.

And this leads to Mansour’s final lie, about the statehood scheme not being unilateral. Of course it is unilateral, which means one sided. Two years ago Abu Mazen decided to halt bilateral negotiations with Israel and he launched a diplomatic initiative to obtain international support for Palestinian statehood recognition in the UN.

Abu Mazen deliberately and maliciously closed the door on bilateral negotiations because he decided that the best bet for the Palestinians was statehood recognition in the UN. Regardless of what Israel thinks or what Israel needs in order to resolve the Palestinian Israeli conflict. But this hubris and this deceit will only backfire on the arrogant and uncomprehding Palestinians.

The day after the Palestinians unilaterally declare statehood in the UN it will be Israel that acts.

Foreign Minister Lieberman recently stated that Israel will void the Oslo Accords, for example. This will have the effect of gelding the brazen Palestinian Authority cold. The tactic of withholding PA tax funds has also come up.

This would have a devastating effect on its ability to function on any plane.

A proposal has also been raised in the Knesset to annex the lands in Judea and Samaria on which Jewish settlements are located. This would effectively eviscerate the Palestinian state.

In my view, the Palestinian statehood initiative at the UN is so hostile that it’s essentially a declaration of war.

Mansour would be well advised to climb on the bandwagon of logic, rationality and truth and tell PA President Mahmoud Abbas to abort the whole initiative. Negotiations are the only path to a permanent settlement.