So if the PA's strategy is doomed, what other options lie before the Palestinians? Across in Gaza, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are jostling to champion another forlorn strategy: liberation through armed struggle. Yesterday, half a dozen rockets were fired into Israel. The reality, however, implicitly acknowledged in their intermittent and muted efforts to fight a distant Israel from inside their prison, is that they cannot win against Israel's superior military might. In the past armed resistance only galvanized international sympathy for Israel.
With the Palestinian leaderships committed to hopeless strategies, a third way has begun to emerge. Israelis themselves are starting to recognize the danger. The historian Zeev Sternhell warned last week that with Israel's demand for "unconditional surrender" from the Palestinians, "the road to South Africa has been paved."
The most disturbing scenario imaginable for Israel is on the horizon: a campaign of popular non-violent resistance by Palestinians. It needs no formal leadership and its simple demand -- equal rights -- is one Israel and the US will struggle to counter. Israel's arsenal may be well-stocked but it has no weapons to defeat such a campaign.
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