Realpolitik is based on practical and material factors not simplistic views

Michael A Moriarty suggests that I am “either delusional or indoctrinated by Zionist propaganda” because I argued the Palestinian leadership was disconnected from realpolitik after it abandoned a possible resumption of two-state negotiations with Israel (Letters, October 10).

Perhaps he does not understand the term, so I will outline its basic premise: realpolitik is based on practical and material factors rather than on theoretical or ethical objectives. It means adhering to a system of politics based on a country’s situation and its needs rather than on ideas about what is morally right and wrong.

Therefore, by demanding the impossible (a greater Palestine), Mahmoud Abass has forgone any chance of achieving the possible (a two-state solution) and abandoned the Palestinian people. In doing so, he has effectively assigned a permanent inter-generational status of victimhood to the vulnerable and disadvantaged people he is supposed to represent.