Apology Duty

Soon, the U.S. administration will present us with an all new, elementary foreign policy, characterized by contradictory and ambiguous positions regarding the Arab region, particularly the Palestinian cause. Still, the policy has yet to approach its ally and mistress “Israel” critically.

The U.S. Department of State was quick to implicitly apologize for what John Kerry said before the House of Representatives hearing on the settlement efforts and those responsible for obstructing the peace process. “As has been the case throughout this impasse, today, Secretary Kerry was again crystal clear that both sides have taken unhelpful steps and at no point has he engaged in a blame game,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “Today he even singled out by name Prime Minister Netanyahu for having made courageous decisions throughout the process. Now it is up to the parties and their leaders to determine whether we maintain a productive path.”

Further clarifying the department’s position, she said that the U.S. will not hesitate to take responsibility for its mistakes and readily admit that. We won’t buy into these distractions, just like we won’t forget Iraq’s alleged reconstruction, Afghanistan’s “liberation” from terrorism, or other global conflicts in the past decade that occurred under American banners.

Certainly, we don’t anticipate that the power the U.S. exerts upon the world is restricted only to “national security issues.” It will not make the smallest change in its foreign policy approach, and will only find fallbacks and excuses for the occupying entity. It will say nothing is wrong and make the secretary seem either inept or a laughingstock although he was briefed by his deputies.

“Israel” has not commented on this matter, but sees these remarks as a sign of America’s decreasing support for settlements. This does not mean, however, that the occupying entity won’t stop its crimes under the pretext of spoiling the Palestinian peace efforts; rather, it will continue under the irresolute protection of Washington.

In any case, there is no hope in changing the status quo, despite the efforts of the U.S. administration to market the peace process while the land and holy sites of Palestinians are desecrated. This is what the Palestinians face, so one expects a clear and developed strategy to solve it.