A Palestinian propaganda campaign to convince the Israeli people to make peace and accept a two-state solution had caused debates among the Palestinians over its benefits, influence and dangers.

The campaign titled ‘We are partners, and you?” occupied a large space in Israeli media, mainly on the newspapers and public ads, as well as the broadcasting of Palestinian National Authority (PNA) officials talking about the advantages of peace.

Senior Palestinian officials that had significant appearance in the campaign included Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, Fatah leader Jibril Rajoub and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leader Yasser Abed Rabbo.

“The campaign aims at promoting the message of peace and the necessity that the Israelis (should) understand that the peace can only be built on the principle of partnership and on the principle of ending the military occupation of the Palestinian territories,” Erekat told Xinhua.

He added the campaign reiterates that the Palestinian side is ready to make peace and guarantee security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians.

In a video clip posted on the website “youtube,” Erekat tell the Israelis that “I know that we have disappointed you, where over the past 19 years we were not able to reach peace with you and to solve outstanding issues like security, refugees and Jerusalem.”

“I understand very well that the vast majority of you in Israel believe in the two-state solution exactly like the Palestinians,” he said. “I’m your partner and does this mean that you are my partners too?”

The Palestinian campaign, financed by the American Aid Agency with one million Israeli Shekels (250,000 U.S. dollars), is executed by the Geneva Institution for Peace group, where Palestinian and Israeli activists work jointly.

The strategy aims at challenging the misleading Israeli right- wing propaganda saying the problem of making peace is with the Palestinians, said Sofian Abu Zaida, member of Abbas Fatah party revolutionary council and one of the campaign’s organizers.

“Many Israelis who really want peace believe that the extreme right-wing Israeli propaganda made them understand that the problem is not with Israeli occupation, or the settlement, but with the Palestinians who don’t want peace and fight it,” Abu Zaida told Xinhua.

The Palestinian propaganda coincided with a U.S. initiative to encourage both Israel and the Palestinians to launch direct peace negotiations over permanent status issues. The resumption of direct peace talks came after the suspension in December 2008.

However, Ibrahim Abrash, a political science professor at the Gaza-based al-Azhar university, said many Palestinians consider the campaign a kind of humiliation as if they are begging peace from their occupiers.

He told Xinhua that there is no justification for the Palestinian media campaign and it is very difficult to expect its results immediately in the Israeli community. “It is obvious that the Israelis are tending to be more violent towards continuing the occupation.”

Meanwhile, chairman of the Palestinian Journalists Association Abdel Nasser al-Najjar slammed the campaign and said “who believes the Israelis and the Palestinians are equal peoples is mistaken.” He told Xinhua the question is not peace only. “The question is rights that were confiscated by Israel.”

Jamal Amer, a specialist in Israeli affairs at Beir Zeit University, told Xinhua that the outcomes of the Palestinian propaganda campaign will not have that much influence on the Israelis, adding “the campaign shows the Palestinian side the weakest part.”