Veteran Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi told The New York Times on Thursday: "We are not in a rush in taking decisions. We are trying to behave in responsibility and wisdom. We are not under pressure." In other words, the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member was saying: We are sought after, so why should we hurry- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has become convinced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is serious. Nine Arab League foreign ministers have also become similarly convinced and have given their full support to the renewal of negotiations. The U.S., Israel and the Arab states all want peace talks. It's only the Palestinians who are playing hard to get. Maybe the Palestinians don't believe in Netanyahu, Kerry or the Arabs. That's their right, but those are the only people who can lead them to statehood. However, the Palestinians feel no pressure. They, after all, have already been waiting for 65 years. It must be understood that the Palestinians in general are aspiring to confront Israel in a different arena -- the international one. In that arena, no one demands anything of the Palestinians and they are always portrayed as having justice on their side. The Palestinians prefer to wait for the U.N. General Assembly session in September. They have already proved that they have an overwhelming majority there. Institutions like the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the European Union are much more appealing to the Palestinians than talking with Israel. As has already been said many times in the past, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. In his Bar-Ilan University address, Netanyahu talked about two states for two peoples. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has yet to make a similar address in which he recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. Despite this, Israel hasn't made such recognition a precondition for the renewal of negotiations. If the Palestinians feel pressure, they'll sit down. But "we are not under pressure." The Palestinians weren't happy on Thursday. To anyone who cared to listen, the Palestinians asked: How can negotiations be renewed without an Israeli commitment to freeze settlement construction? And how can we come back to the negotiating table, after three years, without an Israeli pledge to return to the 1967 borders- Abbas is perhaps one of the few people who truly wants to renew negotiations. The aging Palestinian leader may realize that a continued stalemate in the peace process would only strengthen Hamas. Israel, one hopes, also understands this. While optimism is generally not fashionable in the Middle East, it is worthwhile to maintain the illusion, which, who knows, could lead to a surprise. Kerry hopes that his sixth journey to the region since March will succeed in restarting negotiations. The Palestinians owe Kerry a big thank you. Given the unrest in Syria and Egypt, even The New York Times has acknowledged that perhaps the Palestinian issue should not be a top priority for the U.S. The Palestinians obviously prefer the headline that the EU gave them this week than the one Kerry seeks to give them. Over the years, the Palestinians have shown that they are addicted to attention. They need to change their approach -- fewer headlines, more statesmanship. But they "are not under pressure."
