Sunday, December 16, 2007

Nothing left of Annapolis

B. Michael


It is difficult to find a sane person who seriously thought that anything meaningful would be produced in Annapolis. However, even the most experienced pessimists were certainly surprised by the speed in which matters reverted to their former fatigued state. Barely two weeks have elapsed since the Annapolis Conference, and all the words that resonated there dissipated like a mild case of flatulence. Nothing was started, nothing was stimulated, and there is no process underway. Nothing is going on. Everything quickly reverted to the good old routine, and everything that was expected to happen indeed happened – but sooner than expected.


The military operation in the Gaza Strip is already slowly rolling forward, and it is not clear whether this is being done voluntarily or as a result of a reflexive reaction. The routine of four killed Palestinians per day has already been boosted to six killed Palestinians per day (all of them are, as usual, “armed,” as long as it has not been proven otherwise.) And along with the rise in the daily casualty toll, we have seen a rise in the daily rocket fire quota. As usual.


The arrest routine in the West Bank is flourishing again. The roadblocks have not been moved even an inch. The abuse and thuggery corporation is again working full steam. Very soon, we will see the return of the friendly targeted eliminations.


Fooling our neighbors
And again, we are building in the settlements, being “wise guys” with the Americans, fooling our neighbors, keeping the government coalition intact through Palestinian suffering, swearing to keep Jerusalem for eternity, as well as the Golan Heights, Jordan Rift Valley, the settlement blocs, and various other areas.


And mostly, we are strengthening Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. As usual.


Yet in the future, if only for the purpose of saving the money and sparing the effort, there is no need to organize a mass party that is also loud and wasteful. It would be enough to send the two local leaders to Washington, add a few more American representatives, and ask them to hold each other’s hand and dance around while singing children’s songs.


The diplomatic benefit that would result from such gathering would not be any different than the benefits that resulted from Annapolis, but at least it would more accurately illustrate what is going on in the Middle East.

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