December 10 2010
By Nurit Greenger
Now that the hustle and bustle of Mitchell and Clinton's endless travel between Washington, Jerusalem and Ramallah has come to a full halt, and Netanyahu and Abbas no longer meet in the halls of Jerusalem or Ramallah, it is will be easy for Obama, the U.N, the Palarabs (aka "Palestinians") and the Arab League to blame Benyamin Netanyahu's right of center coalition for the failure of the American renewed peace initiative, a cadaver they keep on trying reviving, with less and less possible of success, as time goes by.. laming Israel will please and appease the US and U.N Arab countries friends and all the moslem countries as well. Blaming Israel and finding the Jewish state guilty on all counts makes this crowd's day a happy one.
Most of Israelis are frustrated by the Palarabs (aka "Palestinians") refusal to compromise on anything, which appears to be the core of arriving at any possible peace agreement. There is also a growing distrust of Arabs among substantial sectors of the Israeli population.
The Israelis are willing to compromise, but they do not find that Palarabs share their willingness. The narrative the Palarabs successfully disseminate grants them a monopoly of suffering and injustice, which does not wash with people who have lived with a more balanced history from 1948 onward, and whose governments have offered a great deal in efforts to get them Palarabs to say something other than NO!
The Palarabs plight greatly appeal to an international communities that have not lived Israel's history. Anyone familiar with the story of David and Goliath can appreciate the actual situation on the ground.
Israelis nationalists who insist on continuing building beyond the country's security barrier that can mark a reasonable national security and otherwise boundary, unfortunately add to the view of many that it is these pesky Jews who are at the heart of the continuous problems between the Arabs and the Jews.
Germany has its 'skin heads', the United States has now its Tea Parties, and Israel has its growing nationalists' camp all cannot be silenced. No real democracy can attain full control of its people.
Therefore, without firm and verifiable signs of the Palarabs' willingness to achieve less than their full narrative, no Israeli government, from 1967 onward, has been willing to act with a 'strong hand' on those committed to expand the building of Jewish hometowns beyond the 1967 border line.
So, for those who are always rushing to blame the Israelis of things, there it is, "settlements containment" is the obstacle. But this is only part of the full story.
To simplify matters the "'Palestinian'-Israeli conundrum" is a problem without an apparent solution. It has been around, with variations in details, since that decision of the British government in 1917:
"His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
For close to a century, squaring a "national home for the Jewish people" without prejudicing the "rights of existing non-Jewish communities" has foiled all solutions' seekers.
Like all other US previous administrations, the Obama administration has yet to find the 'magic' that eluded several previous efforts of British, American, and Israeli peace-seekers. It did not even try, rather it went into trying resolving the matter with a triumphant notion, acting as a bully in the schoolyard basing and pummeling Israel and over rating the Arabs.
Those who refuse to give up – in this case the over-zealous Obama administration – should begin approaching this matter with a bit of modesty, approaching the complicated task with the deep wisdom and full notion that others have already dealt with it unsuccessfully. Not repeating same mistakes and making them even worse.
The current occupant of the White House and his underlings in the State Department's total lack of modesty has deepened the failure and has taken the conflict's lever of disagreements to new heights.
Even PM Netanyahu, who is forever flipping on his promises to the Israeli people who elected him, in his capitulation to freeze constriction, for close to one year, has worsened the situation on the ground.
In spite of all their incitements, vile rhetoric against Israel and their prone to violence, the Israeli government has been aiding and abetting the Palestinian Authority's economic growth, which is showing improved economic development and security. This has been rather helpful for both, the Palarabs and the Israelis.
It has been said that Israel can manage the situation on the ground as it is now, without rushing onto any immediate two state [dis]solution.
The Economist's headline, "Come back later" implies that leaving things alone is wiser than pushing for a grand resolution that has evaded a century of work. (http://www.economist.com/node/17680686)
Obama needs to muster the wisdom that Iran, China and North Korea are more likely to be the elephant in the living room, rather than his escape from reality by going after these tiny specks – settlements - in the Middle East.
According to Wikileaks' evidencing cables' release, the American foreign policy machine is anything but smoothly running. The material provides ample testimony that Iran and Sunni-Shiite tensions, among other issues of much political significance, are every bit more threatening to the Middle East than the Palarab ongoing jihad against Israel.
The American ongoing efforts to claim that Israel must concede more and greatly appease the Palarabs in order to assure world peace are disingenuous and extremely naïve. The Obama administration has much to learn about domestic politics before it begins muddling with foreign politics that have already failed and without learning from the past or having any fresh idea how to handle it, but with abhorrent lack of modesty and experience.
What Obama and Madam Clinton and associates need—at least for a policy toward Israel and the Palarabs—is best described in the German word, Sitzfleisch, the ability to endure or persist in an endeavor through sedentary determination, to sit still and think, really think, without being constantly on the move. Valium might help them, or some other more up to date remedy for hyper-activity.
Going back to the blame game, in the meantime the Israeli government must be reminded that they need to make the case for Israel stronger. They need to speak up the truth about the Palarabs' leadership. Post WikiLeaks, it is no longer politically incorrect to say it as it is and ending fooling themselves.
If not, Israel will be blamed again and again for "being the obstacle for peace" and the worldwide delegitimization of Israel and vilification of Jews will continue and only increase.
WikiLeaks' evidencing political chatter and the Obama administration obvious admittance to its failure to negotiate any compromise between the Palarabs and Israel is an opportunity that Israel must seize. The Israeli government must see this as an opportunity essential to the preservation of the Jewish state. Through all its embassies, consulates and Jewish organizations' web, the Israeli government must implement COUNTER delegitimization Campaign that is way, WAY past due.
The door is now widely open for Israel to succeed in making its case, all its need is to make it!.
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