First, let me put all my cards on the table. I believe that the intentional killing of civilians whether by Palestinian terrorists on the ground or by the Israeli Air Force from the sky is a war crime. As far as killing kids, I will paraphrase what Lincoln said about slavery: if killing a child, any child, is not wrong then nothing is wrong.
Nonetheless, Israel and the Palestinians resumed the cycle of violence again this week and, if not stopped, it will spiral into mass civilian carnage.
Both sides are responsible. But I do not hold a bunch of rag tag terrorist thugs to the same standards I apply to a powerful state. So, yes, I do expect more from Israel.
Besides, every bullet and bomb Israel uses against Palestinians is paid for by the American taxpayer. We oppose Hamas and have no leverage with it. But we subsidize Israel with more aid than any other country in the world. That gives us both authority and responsibility. More significantly, Israel's behavior endangers our interests, as General David Petraeus told Congress, including our men and women in the Middle East. After all, the whole world sees the U.S. and Israel as joined at the hip. Even our own vice president repeatedly says that there must be "no daylight" between Israel and the United States.
Although we have no leverage with Hamas, we can offer incentives that will make it more willing to stop the violence. Instead of telling Hamas that we won't deal with it unless it recognizes Israel prior to negotiations, we should tell it that our only requirement for working with all Palestinians is that it permanently end terror attacks against Israel. Hamas would be stupid to recognize Israel in advance of negotiations when the question of recognition would be the subject of the negotiations.
As for Israel, we need to insist that it end the blockade of Gaza. Inspections can prevent weapons from going in, but until Gaza controls its own borders, and not Israel, it remains occupied no matter what the Israelis say. Occupied, and living in poverty.
But most important of all, the United States should support the Palestinians' bid for recognition as a state at the United Nations. The Israelis have demanded for decades that the Palestinians drop violence and turn to diplomacy to achieve their goals. That is what going to the United Nations is. Diplomacy.
The United States should say that if Hamas will end the violence and join with the Palestinian Authority's effort to achieve UN recognition as a state, we will support it. Why not? The Palestinians are not seeking recognition of their sovereignty inside Israel, but only on occupied land that rightfully belongs to them: Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Nor would recognition by itself kick any Israeli out of those territories.
It would, however, change the political dynamic. Instead of Palestinians begging for a few crumbs from the State of Israel, there would be two states that could negotiate an agreement that would guarantee security for both. President Abbas himself says that following a UN vote, he will immediately return to the negotiating table.
In short, the Palestinian decision to turn to the UN is not a threat to Israel, it is an opportunity. And Israel cannot afford to miss any more opportunities, especially now that its two strongest friends in the region, Egypt and Turkey, are distancing themselves from Israel as fast as they can.
Of course, one can argue about who is right and who is wrong endlessly. But that leads nowhere but to the grave. The UN offers a way out, a way to guarantee security for two states and two peoples.
Frankly, I expect the U.S. to support Israel's rejection of UN action simply because 2012 is another election year and both the president and Congress live in fear of losing campaign contributions. But just maybe they can take a look at what is about to happen if the United States does not begin acting like an honest broker. There will be another war. And another. And, with Hezbollah's missiles at the ready, ultimately these wars won't be as one-sided as Israel's previous wars with the Palestinians.
People who care about Israel, about Palestine and, need I say, about our own country need to tell the president to do the right thing, not the politically expedient thing. He needs to instruct our ambassador at the United Nations to vote "yes" on the question of statehood for Palestine.
In addition to being right for America and for the Palestinians, voting "yes" is the most pro-Israel thing he could do. Because, simply put, the status quo is not just killing Palestinians, it is killing Israel, too -- if not the reality yet, then certainly the dream.
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- As the recent attack against an Israeli civilian bus demonstrated, the "UN bid" has not replaced terrorism. It accompanies it. There is nothing new or "good" in combining terrorism with "political struggle".
- The "UN bid" is not "diplomacy". Rather, it is "anti-diplomacy", a form of political warfare. "Diplomacy" involves discussions and negotiations aimed at achieving an agreed solution. It also involves living up to existing commitments. The latest PA "tactic" does exactly the opposite: it attempts to bypass negotiations. It seeks (however hopelessly) to impose a "solution", rather than negotiate one. In doing that, the PA hopes (however foolishly) to gain a state WITHOUT having to end the conflict with Israel. The PA is trying to replace "land for peace" with "land for nothing -- and continued war". Hardly a "diplomatic" effort -- and hence the understandable lack of support from the civilized world.
The Arab "leaders" (read "tyrants" and include Mubarak, Assad, Gadhafi, etc. alongside PA and Hamas) need to learn that conflicts are more profitably resolved through accommodation, not confrontation. Until they do, or until their hapless subjects choose some real leaders, those subjects will unfortunately continue to suffer.
That sentence is the verbal equivalent of a loose bowel movement.
Warfare is simply politics by a different means.
And if that is true (and, indeed, it is) then it is pointless to describe any act of diplomacy as "political warfare", precisely because all you are doing is highlighting your own ignorance of both diplomacy and warfare.
Two for the price of one, well done!
" "Diplomacy" involves discussions and negotiations aimed at achieving an agreed solution"
No, that's "negotiation". Diplomacy is a much, much, much bigger and broader concept than that.
"It also involves living up to existing commitments."
OK, I'm going to stop right there, because the last word on "existing commitments" is the Road Map agreement.
And the PA has most definitely carried out each and every commitment under Phase I of that Road Map.
Israel?
Israel has, by way of contrast, publically repudiated its commitments under that same Phase I.
Not just "failed to carry them out", mind you, but actually publically repudiated Each And Every One Of Them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplomacy : "Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states."
PA's basic commitments, under Yassir Arafat's signature ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel-Palestine_Liberation_Organization_letters_of_recognition#1:_Letter_from_Yasser_Arafat_to_Prime_Minister_Rabin ):
"I would like to confirm the following PLO commitments: The PLO recognizes the right of the State of Israel to exist in peace and security [FUNDAMENTALLY BREECHED BY DEMANDING "RETURN" OF "REFUGEES"]. [...] The PLO commits itself...to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations [BREECHED BY ATTEMPTING TO BYPASS NEGOTIATIONS & "GO TO UN"...the PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence and will assume responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators [BREECHED REPEATEDLY & GRAVELY]...the PLO affirms that those articles of the Palestinian Covenant which deny Israel's right to exist, and the provisions of the Covenant which are inconsistent with the commitments of this letter are now inoperative and no longer valid. Consequently, the PLO undertakes to submit to the Palestinian National Council for formal approval the necessary changes in regard to the Palestinian Covenant. [NOT IMPLEMENTED]"
Just notice that god is present in so called "coincidences" he blesses all who bless Israel and curses all who curse Israel
"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Although while the theoretical intention might be laudable, I think the practical outcome would be to harden negotiating positions and to embolden those who TRULY don't want any peace to make use of new "moral" position to raise the level of violence.
Sad ? Were I a poet I could find tears for the suffering and empathy for fellow man. But, I dwell firmly in the physical world where atrocities of brother killing brother are - well - as old as man himself.
I expect VERY little in the way of progress from that conflict - and so I have little loss of hope.
All you human beings whether you like Israel or not. Just realize that if we are ever occupied or wiped off the face of this earth by these so called "innocent palestinians", you're next. The Israelis are your front line of defense, security and safety.
Don't ever forget it.
Those we now call pre-67 borders. They were cease fire lines. The events of the past week show just what it means to keep that intact.
Two major things happened this week. One is a shift in tactics, a land based assault by what would be called special forces or assault team in conventional military. They penetrated the border, killed, and were repulsed by a rapid reaction force which resulted in deaths of Egyptian security just beyond the border. Details are sketchy and likely to remain so as this was a running gun battle.
Second was a barrage of missile attacks. Iron Dome defenses moved to Ber Sheva stopped many of those but a barrage of launches, reported at at least 5 at the same time, allowed some to get through. This is always the problem in current missile defense.
So where does that leave us. No point in talking about UN resolutions today. I heard an amazing quote on NPR radio today "A cease fire agreed to between Israel and Palestinian officials has been adhered to despite additional rocket attacks form Gaza".
HP mods will likely delete this post.
That remains true regardless of wether (or not) groups that aren't a party to that arrangement continue to shoot because - Du'oh! - they aren't a party to that arrangement.
After all, Israel keeps insisting that "Palestine" is not a state.
Well, yeah, in which case I don't quite understand why Israel insists on holding it to the standards of a state.
Say the same silly stuff
Maybe they are the same silly person
Without oil, without a large population, without friendly countries on its borders, without vast real estate, and without the Suez Canal, it somehow provides its citizenry with a way of life far more humane than what is Islamo-Arabic Middle East.
Yet the world listens to the Palestinians' often-duplicitous leadership — despite the corrupt nature and murderous history of the regime and numerous attempts to destroy its Israeli Lebanese, Kuwaiti, and Jordanian neighbors and/or sponsors
Arab imperialist -Western liberal revanchist alliance simply cannot handle the the existence of a successful non- Muslim state in the ME, especially one created by Jews.
If the UN recognizes that Israel is **there** and Palestine is **here** then nothing stops either party from approaching the other and offering to do a swap.
But the important thing to note is this: if Bibi wants the settlement blocs then he has to make an OFFER for them, he can not simply DEMAND them.
And rightly so, because the settlement blocs were/are illegal "facts on the ground" and so it is only right and proper that Israel has to pay through the nose to keep them.
"if Un resolution designates 67 plus land swaps, and a division of E. jerusalem, then maybe it will have a positive affect."
No, that's a retrograde step: Israel will then insist that such a resolution gives it a UN-mandated "right" to the settlement blocs, and the only issue then is how little Israel is willing to give Abbas in compensation (hint: next-to-nothing).
Remember: Israel holds all the cards, and has always done so, and so there is nothing wrong with taking a few of those cards out of Bibi's pudgy little fingers and giving them to Abbas, and ESPECIALLY not when those cards are only in Bibi's hot little hands becasue he has been cheating.
For some reason the Israelis, the vast majority of whom live in the only home they ever knew, seem to object to the suicidal agenda you propose.
Logical, ain't it?
I really hope that people who hold such absurd views are never called to do jury service. I can hear them saying: "I do not hold a bunch of criminals to the same standards I apply to civilized people. I expect more from the latter. So if an obvious criminal attacks an innocent person in the street (or a civilian bus on the road) I will not feel outraged -- after all that's what criminals do! But if I think the victim exceeded the right of self-defence, I'm going to rave and rage against that person as much as I can -- and do my very best to throw the book at him.
"Some people" don't even realise how weird and damnable that "logic" is.
Umm no.
The palestinians resumed the cycle of violence, Israel has responded.
--This is a "cycle of violence" - even in a case where it is clear that Palestinain terrorists instigated the violence by attacking a civilian bus.
--"Every bullet is paid for by the US taxpayer" - this is simply untrue. We pay for a small fraction of Israel's total millitary budget, almost all of which is dedicated to sophisticated technology purchases from US companies. I doubt that we supply the money for even a single bullet.
--Gazans attack Israel with heavy weapons and rockets, and MJ thinks that the take-a-way is that Israel should lift the blockade of Gaza?
--Israel is "once again missing an opportunity"? Israel has offered many times comprehensive settlements that the Palestinians walked away from. Hence, the famous quote about Arrafat being one to never miss the opportunity to miss an opportunity. I'm sure that fact is a problem for MJ's muddled view of the actual history of the negotiations, but it remains true.
And why should we argue about "right and wrong"? MJ clearly thinks that is unimportant. I'm glad to see he admits it. I'm also glad to see he admints that he is not holding the terrorists to the same standards that he is holding Israel.
You pay a small fraction of their military budget if you consider 20% to be a small fraction. Most people would not think of 20% as a small fraction.
Even were you to accept the idea that the problem with the negotiations in the past has been Palestinian intransigence why would that mean Israel should walk away from further opportunities?
Yup right and wrong are often unimportant. The dead children who were killed by the 'right' IDF are still dead and as dead as the smaller number of children killed by the 'wrong' terrorists. Neither group would be too interested in which one was correctly killed by the right side.
Starting with oil embargoes in the 60's and 70's, to attacks world wide on our embassies and other targets, to 9/11 and the costs of our Homeland Security and now two wars against Muslim countries that should never have been fought. And then add the billions in aid and you reach trillions of dollars and thousands and thousands of lives.
Now, the US has the opportunity to vote to give Palestinians statehood and we going to veto that effort. How crazy is that?
Obama should do the right thing and vote YES and tell Israel to take a hike.