There was not, and never has been, an Arab nation of Palestine. They're all Palestinian. In fact, Jewish and Arab population numbers in eastern Jerusalem are almost equal and such important Jewish institutions as Hebrew University and Hadassah hospital, along with ancient and modern Jewish religious sites and cemeteries, are located there. Lydon was uninterested in the facts. Frequently Ashrawi inverts reality regarding Israelis and Palestinians.
Few assertions can be more outlandish.
Arafat has done the opposite, constantly exhorting his people via official statements, the PA media and the education system to hew to maximal goals and view Israel as an enemy ultimately to be expunged. On the other hand, Israel teaches peace in its schools, and its populace has accepted many concessions to the Palestinians, with its Prime Minister encouraging additional accommodation. One exception from some years ago to the journalistic fawning over Ashrawi was Barbara Amiel's remarkable 1993 profile of the Palestinian spokeswoman in the London Sunday Times . Then, too, the Palestinian spokeswoman blamed Israel not only for such epic events as the Palestinians' flight in 1948 and the 1967 war, but for myriad fictitious policies related to the Intifada. If she senses ignorance, she will let total untruths stand.