The Key is the Key

In his speech to the UN, where he professed a desire to reach a peaceful settlement with Israel, Abbas is wearing a pin of a key. The key is a prominent symbol in Palestinian culture. It recalls how Palestinians hope to return to their homes that they left during the 1948 war, locking their doors and taking the key with them. (The creation of the refugee problem is what is today referred to as the Nakba, though the term originally referred to the humiliation of the Arab defeat.)

Yet the key, worn...