President Mahmoud Abbas is the most accommodating Palestinian representative the Americans and the Israelis have ever had to negotiate with throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While Barack Obama referred to “the courage of a man like President Abbas” and Benjamin Netanyahu said that he considered him “my partner in peace” he was called names by a number of his countrymen — a traitor, a wimp, a puppet of the imperialists… In other words the dope of a tragicomedy without end called the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
In 2009, the entire world asked Israel to put an immediate and complete stop to the new settlement constructions in the West Bank. In some cases, the request included East Jerusalem, where some Palestinians are still, in 2010, being evicted from their homes so that Jewish settlers may use their all-inclusive rights and take up residence there.
The complete settlement freeze is a sine qua non for there to be a discussion on the subject of a potential peace in the West Bank and Gaza; such was Barack Obama’s position when he became president.
At the end of November 2009, the Israeli Prime Minister yielded an inch, saying in essence, “OK, we put a temporary stop on the construction permit. But just for ten months. And only in the West Bank, not in East Jerusalem.” That temporary freeze has just ended and Netanyahu has refused to extend them further, thus creating today yet another Israeli-Palestinian psycho-drama.
We are thus in the midst of an ironic situation where an Israeli position that was non-negotiable in spring 2009 suddenly becomes, after due consideration, negotiable to Washington… With some changes in detail.
In substance, what the Americans are saying to the Israeli authorities is, “please put a stop to these constant acts of provocation in occupying a territory the Palestinians consider their own, but continue to increase the size of the territory of Jewish constructions.”
But Netanyahu, for the past year and a half, with the 10 months of tactical reprieve which led in early September to the announcement that the negotiations would resume under U.S. supervision, stood up to his dear Washington “allies-arbitrators-partners” and took them for a ride. To the point where the Obama-Clinton tandem no longer even makes it non-negotiable to maintain the moratorium on the construction of settlements. The moratorium has in fact now become an additional element up for negotiation!
Moreover, the Palestinian side is now asked to be “moderate” and not to add any fuel to the fire by using a potential resumption of the construction as an excuse to leave the negotiations, or to bring back an atmosphere of unrest. Ah, those naughty Palestinians!
However, an editorial in the Jerusalem daily newspaper Haaretz wrote yesterday, “There is no greater folly than expanding the settlements at the height of peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state.”
This episode is a crucial test for Israel, its democratic nature and its image throughout the world. It is also a test of credibility for U.S. foreign policy.
In Israel, a very strong movement, the basis for Netanyahu’s political success but from which he is trying to distance himself from today, has made the colonization of the entire West Bank the fundamental and eternal duty of the Jewish people. Yesterday, this powerful politico-millenarian lobby was triumphant, and resumed even before the clock struck midnight (the official end time of the moratorium), with the symbolic shoveling of earth in the disputed territory.
This hard-line extremism is a bad omen. It gives Israel the image of a self-centered nation, obsessed with itself, sending everyone to hell, convinced of being hated by everyone and obstinately resisting requests received from abroad.
It is also a grave time for U.S. foreign policy. Marked by a few nice speeches from Mr. Obama and by Mrs. Clinton’s shuttling between both sides, it has given the impression of fine words and good intentions but without substance for the past 18 months.
To now see Mr. Obama give in to the Israelis and turn yesterday’s non-negotiable (the freeze of the new settlements) into an element of negotiation, we tell ourselves, as Mahmoud Abbas said himself at the United Nations, that “Israel must choose between peace and the continuation of the settlements”. We are sorry that Mr. Obama cannot pronounce these few words himself.
There might comes a sudden unpredictable surprise to the peaceniks in the context of Palestine conflict but a rude shock and dismay to America if the heavens decide to strike a severe body-blow to Israel’s stubborn and stiff-necked Zionists. Jewish history is a long saga of Jewish sufferings and seemingly unending misfortunes. Jews hold nobody but themselves for their tragedy. They started with the defiance of God’s messengers, then went so much astray as to slay the prophets and now the Zionists have gone to the extreme degree of defying the God. They seem to be totally unmindful of the consequences of their folly. This was evidenced when the foundation of the Jewish State was laid. Rabbis insisted on affirmation of faith in God. The founding father, David Ben Gurion, rebuffing them remarked disdainfully: “God has done too little to deserve this credit.” This is no idle talk. You may ask Netanyahu if he too is not likeminded with Ben Gurion?” Israel had its eyes on the whole of Palestine right from Day-1. In pursuit of this objective, it gave up all scruples in flushing out the Palestinians ruthlessly with tanks, artillery and air strikes. America backed it in blind support. Meantime, Palestinians are stuck in the backwater of medieval age and continuously losing ground. They and their Arab supporters are blind to the changed world which is governed by democracy. Moreover they are ignorant of Jewish history and being hostile to the Turks, they have not learnt to envisage a positive solution for Israelis. Hamas was created by Israel to keep Palestinians resistance divided. Hamas in its stupidity and stubbornness is still committed to the destruction of Israel, a task it had better left to the Jewish “Yahweh.”