Bush's Dwarf Diplomacy and the Seven Gazans

Today's New York Times story on the seven Gazan students unable to take up their Fulbright Scholarships due to the Israeli government's denial of exit permits, and the American government's inability to reverse the decision, is a terribly sad reflection on today's realities. Sad of course for the seven Gazan students. Sad for an Israel that should know better and that should have an interest in young Gazans being educated in the U.S. and to bringing that experience home to the Palestinian territories (Israeli Labor Party Knesset Member Rabbi Melchior called the policy "not in keeping with international standards or with the moral standards of Jews"). And sad--no actually devastating as a comment on how dwarfed American diplomatic capacity has become under the Bush Administration. Hopefully there will be a silver lining for the seven students, and perhaps the exposure of the story in itself will cause a re-think, but American diplomacy is unlikely to re-emerge from it's "mini-me" status until at least next year.

Think about it--since the Annapolis peace conference last November, the Administration has been talking about peace in our time--by the end of '08. Official declarations have focused on freezing settlements, freezing checkpoints, negotiating final borders, and proving to the Palestinian public that Hamas is not the answer. All sounds nice. And then there were the seven students from Gaza. Seven students--they can't get seven students out of Gaza in order to study in the U.S. and benefit from the scholarships they probably worked so hard for. Do they assume that ending the historic conflict is a cake-walk in comparison?

Is it that they don't care? Is it that they're not competent? Does it really matter? Britain's Foreign Secretary in the early 1990s, Douglas Hurd, used to describe a Britain punching above its weight in international diplomacy. The Bush Administration has reversed the equation to an almost unimaginable degree. American diplomacy in the Middle East right now is struggling to make bantam-weight.

Just look at the last couple of weeks and what has transpired in the Middle East. Lebanon was on the brink of chaos and renewed civil war. A deal was brokered to elect a new President and for a new power-sharing cabinet. That deal was brokered by....Qatar. The talks were hosted in Doha. America was absent. It's a fragile deal; it needs nurturing. Will the Bush Administration play that role? There is nothing to suggest a positive answer.

Israel and Syria conduct proximity talks, resuming negotiations after an 8 year hiatus in peace talks. Those talks are designed to bring predictability and security to Israel's Northern border, to establish a peace treaty and to coax Syria into a network of relationships less focused on Iran. The negotiations are being brokered by...Turkey. The talks were hosted in Istanbul. America was absent. The peace talks will be difficult, creating a new reality needs nurturing. The Bush administration has not facilitated, encouraged or expressed any enthusiasm for these Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations.

There are reasonable claims also being made that the Sadr City ceasefire was brokered by Iran.

And that brings us back to our Fulbright Scholars story, where the Bushite diplomatic dwarf meets the seven Gazans. These 7 bright youngsters make up just 0.000005% of the population of Gaza. What about the other 1.4 million Gazans living with collective punishment and under a closure that continues to have a devastating impact on every social, health and economic measure that one can imagine? And what about the 20,000 residents of the Israeli town of Sderot, and the neighboring communities, who are coming under frequent rocket barrage, including occasionally the town of Ashkelon, with its 117,000 residents? Where is American diplomacy?

There is an alternative--a ceasefire. And what do you know, Israel is in fact indirectly negotiating with Hamas and with the other Palestinian factions in Gaza to reach a ceasefire arrangement. This would allow the civilians on both sides to resume some normalcy in their lives, remove them from the line of fire, improve security and give people some hope. And these ceasefire negotiations are being mediated by...well it's the Egyptians. The talks are being hosted in Cairo. And you've already guessed the American contribution--nada, oh, there was a Presidential speech about appeasement.

The conditions in Gaza are intolerable with the imposition of a rigid closure (see this recently released report by leading NGOs, including Oxfam International, Amnesty International, and Save the Children)--social, economic and health conditions are desperate, and 80% of Gazan families subsist on humanitarian aid. Daily life for the residents of Israel's south is no picnic either. Life in the shadow of the unpredictable Qassam rockets that indiscriminately target civilians is unacceptable.

A ceasefire will not be easy. The ingredients are known--end hostilities in both directions, remove the economic blockade, take action to prevent arms entering Gaza via Egypt, and pursue a prisoner exchange deal to secure the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit (the Israeli soldier being held in Gaza). But there are multiple actors, competing interests, deep mutual hostility and even deeper mutual suspicions. A ceasefire will require heavy diplomatic lifting and even heavier maintenance and ongoing support. Egypt cannot do it alone (and serious questions should be asked of members of the international community who are also absent here). America, taking a pass on this--or worse, working to discourage and undermine the ceasefire--will not serve the interests of re-stabilizing the Middle East, building a meaningful peace process or improving America's much-damaged standing in the region.

The Bush administration may yet get the seven Fulbright scholars out, and that would be great, but don't hold out hopes for the 1.4 million left behind, their Israeli neighbors, or a Middle East that is still being fed a policy of poisoned apples by the neoconservative dwarfs.

Comments

[elbzee]

But, of course, we all know that Bush has declared that he will leave with the legacy of having delivered peace to the Middle East. He'll decide it was his efforts that brought any improvement. He told us he'd leave that legacy. In fact, I swear, I remember I heard him say "Mission Accomplished." Delusional moron.

[munimula]

Excellent article.

I would add to the list of things that are happening without any USA assistance; Prisoner exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah in the next few weeks after yesterdays release of a Hezbollah prisoner by Israel, and the return to israel of the remains of a soldier that died in the 2006 summer war.

No Bush .. No American MSM coverage.

[LeeScho]

Jimmy Carter had it right: this is nothing short of apartheid. Ugly word, uglier practice. I am certain that the majority of Israeli citizens are outraged by this. We often confuse the actions of a government with the wishes of its people. At any given time, 60%-70% of the American people are outraged by or disagree with our involvement in Iraq. People are ultimately just, governments are ultimately corrupt and unjust.

What does Isrrael care that some Middle-East (?) governments want it destroyed? The U.S. will never let that happen (and rightfully so). Israel can allow Palestine to have its state without any fear from hostile neighbors. But that would get in the way of Israel's imperilistic land grab and economic stranglehold on Palestine.

I wonder how a people who have gone through the holocaust could ever subject another people to the oppresssion it has visited upon the Palestinians. Why is it any less of an abuse of power than what Hitler used to oppress them? No gas ovens? That might ultimately be more merciful than the slow, daily misery visited upon them by sparse food, shelter and clothing, and obstacles to an education that might promote them beyond such circumstances.

[starboymikey]

They understand President Bush is a scorned lame duck here and an international pariah everywhere else. There's no reason to pay attention to him no matter what he might have said or done.
___________________________________________

As I said above, this is why we need an Obama presidency. McCain will not bring any moral pressure on Israel either, because McCain will be just as unpopular a president as Bush, especially on the international scene. Obama has the ability to rally world opinion to a moral cause, and I believe he will do it if elected.

Sure I could be wrong, but it feels like we might see a few JFK moments again.

[TheIndependenceParty]

And so, our "diplomacy" in America is so small that we leave seven young men and women in Gaza behind, to lose a chance to study under our nation's gift, simply because we do not have the courage, and Israel the Human kindness, to realize that for a young student who is committed to learning how the World works, ... that this will be their first and final lesson? These could have become America's fast friends in Palestine, future leaders who know us as a nation and people of peace and purpose.

Instead the Bush Regime, the Fourth Reich, uses this last opportunity to prove again to the World, and to the Palestinian and Israeli People, that America stands for nothing, and that we have abandoned our purpose to the many people of the Middle East.

The courage of the American People and All the People of Europe, ... which together allowed Israel to come into being, now prevents seven children from studying in America? Is this the legacy of the founding of Israel? Sixty years of struggle, to simply deny seven students a chance to study in America?

What a sad and feeble legacy this is, ... in this Anniversary year of the founding of such a great nation!

[TooLooze]

As a Jewish American, I am doubly ashamed. I can only see this as American incompetence and Israeli bigotry.

[starboymikey]

Ditto. Fear overcomes common decency and sense. This is just one reason we need an Obam presidency. Our foreign policy must once again acquire a conscience.

[zippywpinhead]

fortunately, I think we'll see the Israelis reverse course on this- if for no other reason than it's bad PR on the international front

unfortunately, the US, because of the Bush policies, will once again find themselves outside in the cold, with their noses pressed against the window, wondering why no one pays any attention to them anymore...

[YankeeCanuck]

At least half of Israel is with you on that. It is divided, like the US.
THis election cycle we have a chance to begin reconciliation on many issues.
I wish this for Israelis as well.

[charlietuna11]

in the 1870s and 1890s, america was commiting genocide against the native american. in addition to the genocide, white america instructed thepaid volunteer army to destroy every vestiege of there culture so no one would ever be able to revisit that tragedy.. it appears the israeli govt. must be familiar with that ugly part of our history..they now feel so secure in their relationship with the bush administration that they unilaterally take away seven hard earned fullbright scholorships knowing no member of our u.s. congress would dare speak out.. shame also to members of the israeli govt..to deny gifted students an education based on political reasons is disgraceful beyond words.. with the billions of dollars we give israel every year we don't have the authority or right to pick up the phone and instruct their govt to let these students come to america..no wonder change is the biggest issue in our country..

[BARRISTER]

Up to the 1960's you were lynching black Americans!!

[YankeeCanuck]

Wha? You saw charlietuna doing that?

The current regime has destroyed America's credibility globally. It's not just the shameful past of the last two centuries but the recent past that is an indictment.

[unitron]

So we can't send the US Navy with a ship with a helicopter to pick up these kids? We're letting Israel tell us who we can and can't let into the US now?

[starboymikey]

So we can't send the US Navy with a ship with a helicopter to pick up these kids? We're letting Israel tell us who we can and can't let into the US now?
_____________________________________________________________

Though I agree the students should be allowed to go, your solution is hardly practical. Can we send helicopters into Tibet to bring people out? How about sending planes into Iran to bring students out?

This is Israel's dilmma and all we can do is bring moral pressure on them. Unfortunately, our government has no morals so moral persuasion is not an option.

[LeeScho]

Your analogy is false. These students are not in Israel, despite whatever claim Israel makes to Gaza. Tibet and Iran are not recipients of American foreign aid and military support to maintain their sovereignty as Israel is. (I know that Tibet is not sovereign.) So, yes, the U.S. could send helicopters into Gaza and take the students out. What is Israel going to do? Fire on the U.S. helicopters?

But you are right - it is not practical and it would continue the non-diplomatic practice of the Bush neo-con mentality that has landed us in our no-options, no-influence status in the world.

[peterg76]

I think it's the other way around: whenever Bush stays away, peace, prosperity and enlightenment start breaking out.

[SamThornton]

President Bush's contribution seems to be using the occasion of his address to the Knesset to score some cheap political shots at home. On the other hand, the Israelis are not political naifs. They understand President Bush is a scorned lame duck here and an international pariah everywhere else. There's no reason to pay attention to him no matter what he might have said or done.