Mideast Outrage

Sep 29, 2009 Editorial

Undaunted by the failure of his predecessors’ failure over the last half a century to broker a lasting peace between its ally Israel and the Palestinian people, (displaced by the formation of the Israeli state) President Obama staked much of his international credibility by stating at the beginning of his term that he would make the crafting of such a peace accord a top priority of his administration.
Months of intense activity by US mediators initially raised hopes that progress was in the offing. Obama scheduled a tripartite “summit” among himself, Netanyahu (the Israeli leader) and Abbas (the Palestinian Authority leader) on the sidelines of the annual UN general Assembly meeting of world leaders, expecting to announce a “deal”. It was not to be.
His hopes were dashed, as were those of so many previous US Presidents, by the intransigence of the Israelis on the matter of settlements on Palestinian land. The number of Israeli settlers was five thousand when the Camp David Accords (President Carter) were ratified between Egypt and Israel in 1979. When the Madrid Peace Conference (President Clinton) was held in 1991, the number of settlers had risen to 100,000. And in 2007, when the Annapolis Conference (President Bush) was held in the United States, that number had increased to 200,000 settlers.
Thus, the number gradually rises with each of the steps of US brokered “peace”, as each one cancels out what had previously been negotiated over.
This is not to say that the Palestinians are completely blameless. The Israelis must be given some assurance that the attacks against their citizens and territory must cease.
If any deal is to stick, the rival Palestinian groups, Fatah and Hamas, must settle their own differences but it is to be noted that it is because if Israeli intransigence that the more radical Hamas came into existence.
Israel can afford to thumb its nose at successive administrations’ efforts to defuse the Mideast cinder box because of the power of the pro-Israeli lobby in the US. In our estimation, the time is long past for the US to retake the initiative for peace: the stakes for them are just too big.
The Palestinian “cause” is one of the most significant drivers of the worldwide Muslim anti-American sentiment.
With the reflexive support of the US for Israel it is very difficult to convince Muslims that they are impartial in the dispute. The threat to world peace represented by Iran’s insistence on developing a nuclear capability is no less dire that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
Obama, in addressing the UN, stated that the US cannot be expected to solve all the world’s problems and invited the other countries to step up to bat.
He called on the UN to take up the Iranian intransigence and he received wide support.
If Obama is serious about his rhetoric, the US should also submit the dispute to the UN – preferably the Security Council. As President Mubarak of Egypt recently stated, “The Arab Peace Initiative, adopted at the Beirut summit of 2002, provides a regional framework for a settlement. For the first time in the history of the conflict, the Arab states unanimously committed to full normalisation and security for Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal to the 1967 lines and a negotiated resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue.”
It is time for the US to tell Israel, the largest recipient of its foreign aid, exactly what is expected of it on settlements and the Arabs exactly how the border and Palestinian refugee issues are to be tweaked.
The president of the US superpower was elected to lead, not just to express frustration with the bickering duo as he did at the UN.
The Israelis do not appear to worry too much about US pressure but public opinion polls demonstrate that they fear a diplomatic embargo and an international boycott. The Goldstone Report (commissioned by the UN and which detailed Israeli and Palestinian war crimes) and the International Court of Justice in The Hague (on the illegality of the Israeli wall) are arousing concern and interest, far more than Obama’s peace speeches.
They may be the sticks needed to broker a lasting peace in the Mideast outrage.

Latest News

Mideast Outrage

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 7th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Berbice ease past Demerara in low-scoring match

Upper Demerara suffer 8 wicket loss as Lakeram...

Joshi is the new National 2025 Women’s Chess...

Kares Engineering renews title sponsorship of One...

Harpy Eagles looking to put old rivals to bed,...

Windsor Estates reigns supreme at AmCham Golf...

Features/Columnists

The geography of pettiness

The U.S. “Joining” the Commonwealth: an unreasonable expectation

Police violence – life is cheap in Linden

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Mideast Outrage

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 7th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]