I wonder if these were the words used by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she reportedly called PA Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas back to the table for yet another mission impossible round of useless negotiations, and every bit as fruitless as a Palestinian farmers olive orchard, whose latest folly in responsibility, is ripping out their own trees and blaming it, not on alien activity, but on an ever tolerant Israel.

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 has 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, prompting 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 PA 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, and a worlds press mesmerized by the seemingly goliath struggle, and the heartbreaking tales of Hannan 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 of wasting a whole day every year weeping and wallowing in self pity, where the only highlight on the horizon, comes in the shape of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan grinning in a cheesy manner in front of some far fetched map which 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 like Israel, all their higher level education institutions are featured in the worlds top 500.

Maybe Condoleezza called Abbas back to suggest that had “the Palestinians” nurtured their children, and like Israel does during this holiday of Purim dress them up as little queens and spidermen, instead of strapping mock suicide belts around a one year olds middle, and allow them 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, lap tops and cell phones is advanced here and puts (Palestine) Israel at the cutting edge of world technology”. Instead of which the Palestinians seem to put all their hopes for glory and recognition on the worlds 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, which once prevented Israel on humane grounds from cutting of their electricity, which wouldn’t have stopped an ever virulent press from condemning Israel’s actions, while totally ignoring the actions which would have lead to it. 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 who often treat, sometimes long term, and often for free, any number of Palestinians in their superior medical facilities, with the same virulent press barely making any mention of it.

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 they produced fertile ground, that grows everything from cotton to oranges, yet “the Palestinians” who were given beautiful greenhouses left by bereft families in Gaza, who, for the so called quest for peace, were forced to leave behind a good life and years of their livelihood, were able to do almost nothing with this windfall, except rip them apart piece by piece, and then burn synagogues that could have been used for any number of activities.

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 thrived for excellence, their most memorable moment in the Olympic arena would have been for winning gold in the men’s 4x4 relay, instead of the cold blooded murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Ankie Spitzer last saw her husband, Andrei, a fencer, alive on television as he was paraded for a few moments on the balcony - "My husband didn't come with a weapon; he was not a soldier. He came to participate because it was his absolute dream to be a part of it." Abbas, in no small part robbed Andrei of his dream, and as the treasurer of the PLO at the time, 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 labels him a moderate, with anyone foolish enough to fall for it. For years he was lackey to Arafat, and maybe his words, even in English are more somber, 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 who’s 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, and worse still watch people who court these words as some sort of gospel truth.

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

Angela Bertz – Israel