The Palestinian leadership…to where?

You can build hundreds of tunnels and acquire thousands more rockets. You can inflict on Israel some structural damage and perhaps scores of casualties and claim your usual 'hollow victory,' but you should know by now what would be the price.

Whether or not it is justified, no country or coalition of countries can compel Israel to lift the Gaza blockade as long as you deny its right to exist, which only plays into the hands of hardcore Israelis.

Instead, you refuse to give up the comfort of your illusions, which reminds me of the wise saying that "One sometimes weeps over one's illusions with as much bitterness as over a death."

You need not recognize Israel first and accept prior agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as the Quartet demands, but you must renounce violence as a means by which to achieve the Palestinians' aspiration for a two-state solution.

Indeed, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed: "Nonviolence is power, but it is the right and good use of power." And I might add, nonviolence is the only option by which the Palestinians can realize a state of their own side-by-side the state of Israel.

You should know that your extremism is weakening the hand of moderate Israelis who seek peace, and deepening the resolve of the right-of-center who oppose the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Polls have shown that a consistent majority of Israelis and Palestinians support the two-state solution, but you deny them even the dream of living in peace, because peace will render your ideology irrelevant.

In the current atmosphere of intense hatred and doubt, words and promises alone will not suffice unless you exhibit a stark departure from your past violent resistance and start by erecting the foundation of the Palestinian state.

Demonstrate that by taking concrete actions on the land under your control and build the pillars of an independent democratic state for all to see. Every day you live in denial of this Palestinian aspiration is another day of infamy because the public-women and children, the old and the sick-are paying the price.

Instead of building tunnels, construct housing units for the needy; Instead of buying rockets, procure agricultural equipment for farmers; Instead of purchasing weapons, invest in infrastructure and job creation; Instead of constructing more mosques, build schools and higher educational institutions; Instead of misusing funds on an inflated bureaucracy, build health clinics and hospitals; Instead of handouts, focus on sustainable economic development projects;And instead of enslaving the Palestinians, empower them and instill a sense of dignity.

You must either lead them to realize their destiny, or resign in shame for betraying their trust and victimizing yet another innocent generation.

To Mr. Abbas: