Palestinian leaders stay the course as statehood hopes dim, crises mount

RAMALLAH, West Bank — In three decades of failed peace efforts, the Palestinians have never faced a more hostile U.S. administration, a more self-assured Israel or a more ambivalent international community.

But even as their hopes for statehood have never seemed so dim, there’s no indication their aging leadership will change course.

President Mahmoud Abbas remains committed to the same strategy he has pursued for decades — seeking international support to pressure Israel to agree to a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.

That quest seems even more quixotic after the United Arab Emirates’ decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, which shattered the Arab consensus behind land for peace, a rare source of leverage for the Palestinians.

Other Arab nations are expected to follow the Emirates’ lead, lending support to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contention that Israel can make peace with its Arab neighbors without any concessions to the Palestinians.

The UAE agreement has also resurrected President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan, which overwhelmingly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians. It would remain the cornerstone of U.S. policy for another four years if

Trump is re-elected.

But while the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them, the Palestinians make up nearly half the population between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Their leaders say Israel still needs their signature if it hopes to resolve the conflict, a source of frustration for Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, the architect of the plan.

“There is an erroneous assumption that the Palestinians are defeated, and they have to accept the facts of their defeat,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official. “The Palestinians are willing, generation after generation, to continue their struggle until we get our rights.”