Winning The Peace In The Middle East

by southerndemnut, Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 05:24:44 PM EST

Hopefully this turn of events will move the peace process along in the Middle East. The Middle East has been in conflict since the dawn of time - it is written about in the Bible, so we may never fully resolve the issues at hand. However we can make it work. The United States has always been, and should always remain, a strong backer of Israel, the only true democracy in that region. With that said, because we back Israel, we will always be looked upon with suspicion by Arab and Islamic entities. We may never win the love and affection of the Islamic community, but in order for anything to work we need to be perceived as a fair-dealer. If we learned anything from the Carter administration in the 70s and the Clinton years in the 90s, is that fair and diplomatic negotiation can and will work.

One of the greatest failures of this Bush administration has been the unilateral approach it has taken with the Arab-Islamic community. 9/11 was a tragic blow to this country, and there should rightfully be zero-tolerance for terrorism whether it originates in the fundamentalist Arab community (as in the case of Osama bin Laden) or homegrown (as in the case of Timothy McVeigh). Our reaction to 9/11 presents us with a chance to not only root out those that foster terrorism, but also offer us a unique opportunity to build mutual understanding and acceptance within the world community and bring peace. So it is no wonder that the United States is hated in many parts of the world when a large section of the US population believes that being Muslim is a sin. It is not the place of the United States government to preach religious tolerance - but it is a necessary element of peace to recognize and accept the fundamental basis from which one lives.

Over the years that we have known Yasser Arafat, we have watched him dance to two different beats, one of a proponent of violence and militant resistance as well as one who is relatively moderate (within the Islamic community) who was willing to go to Oslo, Camp David, and to sit down with then-Israeli PM Ehud Barak. But we never were able to fully get there because if Arafat had one fatal weakness, he was unable to commit. A smart man, who undoubtedly realized that peace was the only way to win but who was unable to take the chances that were necessary to make it so. What we look forward to now it that incoming Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas understands what it takes to win the peace. A diplomat, rather than a fighter, Abbas is less tied to the old ways than he is tied to international statemanship. Much like Colin Powell here in the United States, Abbas is a results man, someone who clashed with even Yasser Arafat over the direction of the Palestinian state.

The biggest question now is whether the Bush administration will squander this opportunity on aimless saber-rattling or sit down and talk about a real peace. With the departure of Colin Powell, Bush loses a key figure who could have served him well in this regard, as well as someone whom many believe, as does this author, what is really takes to win the peace. We shall see if Dr. Condoleeza Rice stakes her own ground, as Colin Powell did, or simply hews to the administration line. One of the realities that much be accepted, both by the Israelis and the United States, that we will never even get off the ground if we do not have a Palestinian state. It has taken 50 years for some of the Arab states to even formally recognize the existance of Israel (and many still do not officially) likewise the Palestinians need a place of their own.

So far the signs are not all that encouraging but its still early. The United States` tepid initial response to the tsunami disaster reflects the neo-con view of the world that unless we have an interest in something we could care less. While that may be a drastic oversimplification, it is not far from the truth.



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what about Israeli injustices? (3.00 / 2)

I don't think we'll ever be seen as a "plain-dealer" as long as we back Israel unconditional, and have zero-tolerance for Palastinian injustices.

We either have to condemn Israeli state-run terrorism right along with Palenstinian terror. No one is defending Palenstinian tactics at all, but we have turned a blind eye to Israeli tactics forever.

If we can't stop backing one party and publicly decrying the other, how can we broker peace? I say we should either become a fair appraiser of both sides, or stay out. The U.S. isn't the only nation on earth fit to be an arbiter. We may be one of the worst. What if Iran was brokering the peace? That is how we look to the Arab community.

Note: I know this is a sensitive topic, so again I restate that I don't apologize for Palenstinian policy. Everyone has the blood of the innocent on their hands.

by srolle on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 06:51:09 PM EST

Re: what about Israeli injustices? (3.00 / 2)

Mister Sharon, tear down this wall!
by jdeeth on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 07:22:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Nothing short of a weapons embargo (none / 0)

It will take a weapons embargo to bring Israel to the peace table.

When we stop giving hand-outs of F-16s and AH-64s and M1-A2s, then we'll see results.

I promise you, the ensuing financial crisis that would follow a weapons embargo, as the Israeli military scrambles to find parts for weapons systems that are already in limited supply (only a handful of countries have any access the big ticket US systems) the cabinet would face the prospect of scaling back their daily punitive strikes or running out parts to run the war machine.

While the Palestinians are far from pure in this dispute, the fact is that the great unqualizer is the force of American arms in Israrel's hands.

As long as the conservative expansionist parties in Israel have to pay no price for their undermining the peace process, nothing will get done.

by jcjcjc on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 10:33:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The most eloquent spokeman for the Palestinians (3.00 / 1)

is a map I saw around two years ago on the web site for an Israeli peace organization.

Part of a report entitled "Land Grab" it showed the locations of the remaining Palestinian lands and how they had steadily been bisected again and again, shrinking dramatically over the years to a pathwork of lands that resembled the spots on a Dalmatian.

Its truly tragic and ironic that the Ashkenazi Jews, (who became the first Zionists and then the Israelis), who had experienced institutionalized apartheid and later, a campaign of extermination firsthand in Germany and then throughout Europe would choose to do almost the same thing to the Palestinians who the Sephardic Jews had lived alongside with peacefully for so many years.

Anyone who wants to see how one-sided the media we read in the US is about the causes of this simmering and intractable conflict should just hunt down this map. It speaks for itself..

Basically, the goal is to make viable economic and spiritual life impossible for the Palestinians.
To marginalize them. The Isrealis also seem obsessed by maintaining a roughly 3 to 1 ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths. Often the victims on both sides are innocent bystanders. But they all make a mistake by buying into extremism.

When you have so much violence, the only way out is nonviolence. But in order for that to work, people in the US have to make an effort to understand the conflict there. Its not just black and white, both 'sides' have their heroes and demons.. But often, they are not who we are told they are.

Why is America enabling this bloody racist conflict with so much aid to Israel? We should pull out and let them sort ot out among themselves. If they can..

Pray...

by ultraworld on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 08:55:57 PM EST

Israel is not a democracy (3.00 / 1)

When you say Israel is a democracy I think you're either ignorant of even the most basic facts or a willful liar.
Rrrinnggg... Time to change the government.
by Carl Nyberg on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 09:41:45 PM EST

Re: Israel is not a democracy (3.00 / 1)

Or you don't think Palestinians are human enough to deserve human rights.
Rrrinnggg... Time to change the government.
by Carl Nyberg on Sun Jan 09, 2005 at 09:43:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Israel is not a democracy (3.00 / 2)

I agree. Although the Palestinians do hold a lot of blame the Israelis hold blame just as much. In my view we should withold all money/supplies from Israel until they withdraw every settelement from palestine.
by sam89 on Mon Jan 10, 2005 at 11:11:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Israel is not a democracy (none / 0)

If this was directed at me - the author - quite the opposite is true. If anything, I am a supportor of an idea presented in a previous comment about forcing Israel's hand regarding US arms. Israel owes is military survival in the region, not only to the skill of its leaders but also the might of the US war machine.

It would be an interesting exercise (one though that I would loathe to do mainly because of the amount of lives at stake) to say to Israel 'either make a Palestinian state now or you will have purchased the last weapon you will ever buy from the US' you would see a Palestinian state created so fast it wouldn't have time to clear the UN.

As for Israel being a democracy, few democracies or governments in any country are perfect, but Israel is a functioning representative of the will of the Israeli electorate.

The basic tenent of this article was to call into question the hypocracy that pervades the Bush administration policy vis a vis the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As in the case with Iraq, it is apparent that the Bush administration philosophy is take what you want and scare who you do not like. While that might work in the short-term, rarely does it ever produce long-term results as instigation further erodes any credibility that one might have.

Shimon Peres once said "There is a difference between might and strength." Perhaps that is a lesson President Bush ought to learn.

by southerndemnut on Mon Jan 10, 2005 at 09:22:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Israel is not a democracy (none / 0)

Say, I live in the West Bank.

I am a peaceful citizen.

Can I vote for in the Israeli Parliment?

No.

Until I can, Israel is not a freaking Democracy, you moron!

And don't reply with, "Well, you just elected a new chairman of Palestine."-Israel is in 100% control of the Palestinian territories, not the Palestinian Charman.  Those tanks are under the control of the Israelis, last time I looked.  If Israel withdrew, totally (TOTALLY) from the West Bank and Gaza, that would be different.

by Geotpf on Tue Jan 11, 2005 at 04:15:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I should also add... (none / 0)

...that America was not a Democracy until the 1960's, either (when blacks were finally allowed to vote without paying a poll tax (Amendment 24) or by taking a literacy test or any other type of intimidation).
by Geotpf on Tue Jan 11, 2005 at 04:19:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]


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