[andyfox]

"First of all, just because the Palestinian Authority has claimed to recognize Israel's right to exist doesn't mean it truly does...just as actions speak louder than words."

I said I felt the Palestinian leadership needs to act on its professed intentions. Israel's leadership does also. Both sides talk peace but their actions belie their words.

"even if this governing body has done so, it is completely insufficient as long as over half of the Palestinians on the street have not."

-Not sure if this is so. Especially in non-democracies, leaders can do what they want. So a Palestinian leadership, recognizing Israel and devoted to resolving the issues and stopping the violence, could go a long way towards doing so in spite of what the "man in the street" thinks. And they could go a long way towards influencing what that man in the street thinks.

"Pipes isn't placing all the blame on the Palestinian side in this article"

-He most definitely is. He says that Israel's action are not responsible for the lack of peace, merely its existence.

"Pipes is simply saying that if one side rejects the other's right to exist, peace is impossible."

-Let's assume that this is what Pipes is indeed saying. You say actions speak louder than words, and I agree. Israel proclaims it wants peace and has always wanted it, yet has denied the Palestinians their basic rights. I say the rejectionists have had their way on both sides, not just the Palestinian side.

"Don't you agree that lasting peace is impossible with those who refuse to recognize your right to exist?"

-Yes.

"Let's just forget about blame for a moment"

-I'd like to forget about it permanently. Pipes does not. There is more than enough to go around for everyone. As I have said before, neither the Jews nor the Palestinians have acted honorably and neither has shown themselves worthy of this land which they both say they regard as holy.

At one time, Egypt was Israel's most implacable foe. Yet two men who one would have thought unlikely leaders to do so got together and created a peace that has lasted between them for a generation. What's needed is statesmanship and courage on both sides. The cause of peace is not furthered by insistence that one side is completely to blame, as Pipes has done in this article, and elsewhere. Listening to Pipes is a recipe for disaster.