Profile of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the promise and missed opportunities that have come with his leadership:
At the time, negotiations had been frozen for more than a year. Yet Fayyad boldly predicted that his program would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state by August 2011. ‘By then, if in fact we succeed, as I hope we will,’ he said, ‘it’s not going to be too difficult for people looking at us from any corner of the world … to conclude that the Palestinians do indeed have something that looks like a well-functioning state in just about every facet of activity, and the only anomalous thing at the time would be that occupation, which everybody agrees should end anyways. That’s the theory.’ As Fayyad finished his speech—saying that his people aspired ‘to live alongside you in peace, harmony, and security’—several audience members stood up to applaud. For a moment, anyway, just about everyone seemed to be rooting for Salam Fayyad.
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