The Palestinian leadership…to where?

The only prerequisite for you is to renounce the use of force, agree with the PA to conduct fair and free elections, and let the people be free to choose who represents their aspirations to lead them on the path to peace. You should remember what Gandhi once said: "Non-violence is a weapon of the strong."

This step alone, if faithfully embraced, will persuade the Israelis to reevaluate their position as to whether or not you are ready to negotiate peace in good faith, and will certainly encourage Western powers to remove your name from the list of terrorist organizations.

Your policy toward Israel

At the time Israel was created, a Palestinian state could have also been established. Since then, Israel has become a formidable global power and a leader in technology, medicine, renewable energy, land development, and military industry, while a multitude of Palestinians are still languishing in refugee camps.

If we do not judge the leadership by what they have accomplished for their people, how do you explain why seven decades later, so many Palestinians are still living in poverty and despair?

Given the opportunity and education, the Palestinian people could accomplish just as much as the Israelis; they are hardworking, creative, and resourceful, but unfortunately are led astray by poor and misguided leaders.

Leaders like you have been stifling their innate talents and teaching them how to hate and kill instead of schooling them on how to build a promising future and lead a productive life that every Palestinian deserves.

For you, Israel was always a convenient scapegoat-you blame Israel for the dilapidated classrooms, for lack of health clinics, for unpaved roads, for running sewage, for the continuing existence of refugee camps, for the lack of housing-indeed, for all your ills.

Yes, whether or not Israel bears some responsibility for the plight of the Palestinians, especially the refugees, Israel will be involved in the search for a mutually acceptable solution.

You still must face the inescapable requisite to reconcile with Israel's existence and begin the process of changing the Palestinians' perception by offering a new narrative about the inevitability of peaceful coexistence, however long that might take.

You never understood the Israelis' mindset about their national security, which is rooted in an unfathomably terrifying historical experience. It is deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of every Israeli that no enemy who poses an imminent danger to Israel's existence will live to see the day of its destruction.

No power can force Israel's hand as long as the country continues to have legitimate national security concerns-not so much with respect to secure borders, but about your intentions, which you foolishly reinforce through your acrimonious public discourse laden with hatred and repeated existential threats.