Helene Cooper of the New York Times has published a great what's up story on the new behind the scenes scramble by the Obama administration, Prime Minister Netanyahu and various Palestinian officials to act as if they have some plan to move the peace process forward -- when in fact, most of it is insincere posturing and speechifying designed to pour concrete on what has thus far been failure.
Brookings' Martin Indyk is quoted calling out all this public flapping in the Cooper piece:
"Instead of focusing on peace-making, everybody seems to be focused on speech-making," said Martin S. Indyk, vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and a former United States ambassador to Israel. "And unless the speeches generate peace negotiations, making speeches will not generate peace."
But the reality is that the president of the United States knows that he can't "do nothing" on Israel/Palestine. As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice warned in her powerful comments today at the United Nations, violence is heating up. She accused Hamas and others of targeting innocent civilians -- and called for calm. But there is little likelihood that the component pieces of the Israel-Palestine puzzle will willingly accept the status quo, particularly one in which Israel keeps expanding its settlements in Occupied territories.
Daniel Levy, my colleague who directs the New America Foundation/Middle East Task Force, also said to Cooper, Netanyahu and Obama are both in competition to control the frame surrounding Israel/Palestine issues -- they feel the need to rush forward, but neither seems willing to do what needs to be done to achieve real negotiations and a fundamental breakthrough.
Cooper reports from Daniel Levy:
"People seem to think that whoever goes first gets the upper hand," said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and a director at the New America Foundation. Using Mr. Netanyahu's nickname, he said: "If Bibi went first and didn't lay out a bold peace plan, it would be harder for Obama to say, actually, despite what you said to Congress and their applause, this is what I think you should do."
The political gamesmanship between the two men illustrates how the calculation in the Middle East has changed for a variety of reasons, including the political upheaval in the Arab world. But it also shows the lack of trust and what some officials say is personal animosity between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice at a Security Council debate this morning reiterated that the U.S. remained committed to a two-state solution, did not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, and said that it is in the interest of both parties in the conflict and the world to negotiate. Rice outlined America's support for the efforts of the Palestinian government, and the unmentioned Salam Fayyad, to lay the foundations for a future Palestinian state -- building public institutions, enhancing their capacity and laying the groundwork for quality economic growth.
She condemned the death of innocent civilians recently and the escalation of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza.
But this speech by Rice, while important, falls short of a plan.
What is missing is President Obama's vision for what needs to be done to achieve a stable equilibrium between Palestine and Israel -- not full details, but at least an outline of expectations and goals.
Obama seems unwilling to make his own weather in the Middle East, and his team and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seem to cling to the bizarre notion that, after so many examples when both Israeli and Palestinian leaders have failed to mature and act responsibly about their long-term mutual interests, they would all of a sudden begin to do so. Israel's short-term interests and long-term interests are different -- and thus in the short term, with a party that Israel fundamentally does not trust, it is hard for Israel to make the jump to do a deal that secures its long-term survival and interests in the region.
Israel's government, even under Netanyahu, probably doesn't have the legs to do a real peace deal at this point -- and the Palestinian Authority is in the same boat, though with more leaky holes springing water and sinking.
What will move the process forward is American and Quartet leadership that doesn't make the conflict one just between these two parties. Their failure has become globally consequential and reinforces an impression of American foreign policy impotence.
It's important for the president of the United States to kick forward a serious plan laying out his expectations -- and then a subsequent plan embraced by regional and global stakeholders to actualize it.
Otherwise, Indyk is completely right that what we are hearing from all quarters are meaningless speeches achieving nothing.
Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note. Clemons can be followed on Twitter @SCClemons
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Needless to say, I reported each and every profile that emailed me this drivel.
But was wondering about such a mindset, what type of people would dream of the demise of an entire race?
The Israelis would never make any offer that would be accepted. They will never live next to a separate Palestinian State recognized by the UN. Never.
What hubris!!! Israel is a sovereign country. Would Obama cave to the expectations of Sarkozy or Cameron concerning the future of the US? Netanyahu's responsibility is to Israel and her citizens, not to Obama and the US. If Obama wants to withhold aid, then so be it, Israel will survive without it.
The true hubris lies with Israel supporters that think the world is going to continue to sit idly by and watch Israel steal land and resources from other countries and keep an entire population prisoner.
The Israeli honeymoon over.
Btw, although you are procuppied with wishful thinking but if necessary Israel would be able to survive without economic assistance from the US. However, the Palestinians, who have never contributed anything to civilized society would crumble if they were taken off the welfare dole they have been receiving for years.
And so was Serbia, Iraq, Libya, etc.
In absolute numbers there are more illegally constructed structures in Jewish communities, but the demolition is practiced almost exclusively against Arab home owners. The basis for the construction of homes without permit is also rooted in discriminatory practices in the laws of zoning which in many cases have retroactively criminalized all residents of many villages whose existence predated the state, itself. Such “Unrecognized Villages†are frequently the site of home demolitions.
The cumulative end result of all the openly discriminatory laws, the hidden disadvantages, and the differential application of the rules and regulations are clearly seen in comparative figures from officially published data of the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.
unfortunately hamas, once again, has fallen for the same old tired play. once more rockets are being fired into israel...and of course, israel MUST respond to such an attack upon it's land...often with overwhelming force...!!!
and when all is said & done, NOTHING WILL HAVE CHANGED...!!!
the BEST thing hamas can do right now is to find a way to sit down with fatah & heal their differences; to ACCEPT the fact that a SOVEREIGN state of palestine is the END GAME...and nothing; not even their mutual distrust of israel should take their eyes off the prize...!!!
the LAST thing you EVER wish to do is cross swords with israel, on the eve of Passover when you're attempting to convince the u.n. that you're SERIOUS about running your own country...!!!
and if hamas isn't CLEVER enough to recognise when they're being DELIBERATELY PROVOKED into acting against their BEST INTERESTS, then perhaps they don't deserve to run their own country.
israel has NOTHING to lose with the u.s. backing its play...and hamas has no ace in the hole...!!!
the 'destruction' of the jewish state by a sovereign palestine will NOT happen simply because the u.s. in particular, and the world in general, would NEVER allow such a thing to happen. besides which, israel has more than enough MILITARY MIGHT to defend itself, so we can put that idea to rest...!!!
thank you for your post...!!! :)
Palestinian medics in Gaza identified the dead as Muhammad Jihad al-Hilu, 11, Yasser Ahed al-Hilu, 16, Muhammad Saber Harara, 20, and Yasser Hamer al-Hilu, 50. The identity of the third adult was not published, Ma'an said.
Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/03/22/At-least-8-Palestinians-killed-in-Gaza/UPI-17741300811466/#ixzz1KJbMyEIn
(causing the de.ath of a 16 year old i might add)….i bet you'd be singing a very different tune.
if it were your family, blown up at a seder dinner, or in a pizza parlor…you'd be singing a different tune.
None of those people "provoked" anything.
once again, i'm not interested in playing "tit for tat" here...the numbers of deaths speak for themselves...!!!
i'm sure you're not naive enough to believe that "people provoked anything"...!!!
if you care to discuss the politics of my argument, you know where to find me...!
thank you for your post...!!! :)
Given that all else has failed, why not give him active support? He couldn't do any worse than the White House, Quartet and Israeli cabinet over the past five years if he tried.
We are not blind nor idiots and this poster nor his Arab states can point a finger at anyone accusing them of injustices considering the fact that they are engaged in mass murder and inhumane tratment of their own people, which clearly reveals their lack of regard for human life, not only of their people and the Israelis, but the Palestinians as well. What hypocrisy!
please do me a favour, take a breath then re-read my comment in its ENTIRETY and then if you care to respond, comment on the POLITICS of what i wrote...!!!
these emotional arguments about who did what to who when & for what reasons are tiresome & silly...!!!
you seem like a fairly well spoken person, and while i am acutely aware that its often difficult for many to distill their emotions from reasoned analysis, i'm holding out HOPE that perhaps you can discuss the POLITICS of my argument...!!!
time will tell...thank you for your post...!!! :)
It's stunning how limited your fantasy about things are. Let me help you a bit. The real help isn't $10b but rather $911b. Please incorporate it in to your fact book.
Infantile response. Since 1945, the world has agreed to laws that make land theft and ethnic cleansing illegal.
What a shame!
They stopped doing that 3 years ago.
Time to update your talking points.
Faved.
No one can force the palestinians to accept peace.
The palestinians have refused to come to the table and even discuss the idea. For one thing, they still retain the dream of exterminating Israel. They also see the uprisings around them and the apparent rise of Islamists as a sign that perhaps there will yet be one more pan arab attempt to wage war on Israel.
On the other hand, the Israelis see the same uprisings as well as the recent statements by the Muslim Brotherhood of the abrogation of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty and wonder if any agreement will be worth the paper it is written on.
Until you realize the Palestinians are in every way the equals of the Israelis, you can not be a partner in peace.
personal atakk while u accuse others of not being able to be a "partner in peace".
it goes both ways you know….one can't ask for respect if one doesn't give it.
"...The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?â€
- Mark Twain
(“Concerning The Jews,†Harper’s Magazine, 1899
see The Complete Essays of Mark Twain, Doubleday [1963] pg. 249)
Good try though, different I must agree.
Mark Twain
Just clearing up the misinformation.
You are excellent in criminally and unconsciously twisting and turning the entire Palestinian tragedy.
Millions of Palestinians daily endure a rare fate. Just the simple act of surviving through the day under occupation requires enormous resilience in the face of a superior war machine, supported by the world's single superpower.
Yet Palestinians have never lost hope that one day they will be able to live in freedom, peace and prosperity in their own independent homeland.
Israel can slaughter the civilian population in Gaza the largest open prison in the world. But the Palestinian children fighting back with stones are extremists and terrorists.
The American view is that people can explode bombs for promoting the American defined democracy, but not in Palestine, not to achieve the liberation of their home land. The world thrives on hypocrisy and double standard, and the standard is fixed by the only super power in the world.
FnF!
Why is it such a "painful" thing to end the illegal and colonization of someone else's land?
That is a great question?
when ones goal is to eliminate an entire country and its people,
should they be given carte blanche by that country?
I have nothing against camels with red hats, and peaked white faces. Nor have I one thing against Palestinians and their State. But I do not see anything constructive that would make it come to pass, and really now, camel, neither do you!
If you have not, you must WORK to get. Get a CONTRACT. It will not do to say I will not work and I DEMAND that you GIVE ME. Am I right?
Granny is just being practical. And you?
It is impossible for the US to protect Israel forever and it is impossible for Israel to suppress the Arabs forever, so once the US is completely neutered and the Arabs have sufficient power, I think we can all figure out how the situation ends up.
Hint: most of the Israelis that have a spare non-Israel passport will use them to go to a safe place.