You Can’t be Pro-Peace (Or Pro-Palestinian) If You Don’t Hold Palestinian Leaders Accountable

In early March, an organization called the Telos Group is going to hold its annual leadership conference in Washington, D.C. Billing itself as an activist organization that is pro-Palestinian, pro-peace and pro-Israel, the Telos Group is allegedly promoting a new understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict — an understanding that allows outsiders (Evangelical Protestants mostly) to embrace the flattering notion that they can somehow bring peace between Jew and Arab in the Holy Land.

It’s a naïve and arrogant view for people to embrace because it portrays the Israelis and the Palestinians as pawns that will do the bidding of well-meaning Christians from North America, as if the two groups of people are unable to discern for themselves the decisions they need to make for peace. Such a narrative denies the agency, intelligence and accountability of people in both Israel and in Palestinian society.

The condescension however, is mostly directed at the Palestinians. Examine the Telos Group’s website for yourself and you’ll find very little information about the antisemitic incitement in Palestinian society, nor will you see much condemnation of the corruption of Palestinian elites. By failing to hold Palestinian leaders accountable for their misdeeds, Telos Group activists reveal their underlying contempt for the Palestinians.

Noah Summers, an analyst writing in the Gatestone Institute has examined the organization and has documented some contradictions with the organization’s message. She writes that while Telos staffer Greg Khalil (pictured above) invokes UN Resolution 242 in a manner that obligates Israel to yield territory to the Palestinians, he “neglects to mention that this “land-for-peace” resolution was premised on the Palestinians halting all violence against Israelis and recognizing the State of Israel.”

Summers also complains that the Telos Group activists irresponsibly promote ties between Palestinian elites and Western donors. While promoting economic development in Palestinian society is a legitimate goal, Summers asks if the folks at the Telos Group have addressed the prospect of foreign funds being stolen by Palestinian elites or used to fund acts of terror. She writes:

While every pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, and pro-peace American longs for the day when Palestinians experience genuine economic freedom, they undoubtedly understand that money is fungible, and that in the West Bank and especially in Gaza, financial resources and economic products often end up in the hands of government and terrorist organizations instead of in the hands of impoverished Palestinians. The PayPal4Palestine movement (supported by the Palestinian companies who met with Telos) offered its assistance to PayPal to work around any legal issues by working with “officials.” But those PA and Hamas officials are part of the very regimes responsible for stealing resources from the Palestinian people. The unsuccessful PayPal4Palestine movement did not call for the serious internal Palestinian reforms necessary to enable genuine economic prosperity to reach the average Palestinian suffering under an oppressive government.

Read the whole thing here.