No Hopeful Sign on the Horizon
There will never be a state of Palestine. Israel has precluded that possibility. A “Jews only” network of roads and settlements that Jimmy Carter called apartheid will complete the stealing of the entire West Bank. That activity has reached beyond the point of no return.
Despite President Obama’s inspirational speech in Cairo, with honey-dipped words for the ears of Muslims, no hopeful sign can be seen on the horizon. At some juncture Palestinians/Arabs/Muslims will accept the bitter truth of the dispossession of the Palestinians. Under American pressure orchestrated by AIPAC and the likes of Sen. Joe Lieberman, they will become reconciled to it.
Formerly colonized Arab nations of the Middle East with the fiction of “sovereignty” and “independence” will easily knuckle under.
Media reports indicate that Israelis were unimpressed by the Obama speech except for the American president’s usual genuflection with the mention of “special bond” and the “holocaust.” Only the former Prime Minister Shimon Peres extended compliments, albeit a back-handed one, calling the speech “forthright” and “brave.”
Records kept by the White House must show that concessions to the Palestinians are not in the Israeli cards. Dennis Ross, the American diplomat in-charge of directing negotiations for a long time has ensured that outcome. He is the conduit for AIPAC position on the Middle East through his eternal presence as an administration official.
Israelis have open contempt for the “cockroaches” (one of the more polite terms for the Palestinians) while claiming all of their land given to them by God. Unfortunately, God never conveyed that message to the Palestinians.
The Palestinians face an intractable enemy, clever, conniving and ingenious in ways that Arabs can’t imagine even in their wildest nightmare. Before the American president arrived in the region the expansion of settlements was already announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
They knew that the issue of settlements was going to be included in the Obama speech and wanted to act on it. Perhaps they got an advanced copy or had knowledge of its contents from their many sources in the administration.
The strategy of stalling for time, adopted years ago has been the favorite ploy of the Israelis. This was to ensure the incremental resolution of the issue in their favor. They have reached that point now.
Israelis always come up with some excuse for not going along with the peace process. For the longest time it was because of violence, later that of suicide bombings and for many years now because of terrorism.
As opportunity arose they disingenuously endorsed George Bush’s idea that the road to the two-state solution lies through Baghdad. Currently, they are harping for the resolution of the Palestine issue through an American invasion of Tehran.
Tongue in check, a wink and a nod, they acknowledge that this may take decades, as recently Benny Morris did on CNN’s GPS, knowing full well that by that time there will be no Palestine to talk about. Their strategy must have predicted such an outcome.
Meanwhile, Obama wants Palestinians to give up resisting occupation and to get down on their knees and beg the Israelis for a piece of land. He wants the Palestinian Authority to “develop its capacity to govern” and to “recognize Israel’s right to exist.” In return they will get nothing except some words of praise from Washington.
The rest of the Arabs as usual will stand on the sidelines and watch as King Abdullah gives America all the oil it wants and the other King Abdullah (of Jordan) keeps on heaping praise on whoever occupies the White House.
Would Palestinians have a state if they had embraced non-violence instead of suicide bombings? Never! The enemy they face loves blood, gore and killings as we have seen in several of their wars. According to International Solidarity Movement “many Palestinian Gandhis” have been shot dead in cold blood merely for confronting the Israelis. Of course, Israelis always dehumanize anyone who dares to stand up to them by hanging the label of Nazis around their necks.
Obama may not know it but the battle for Palestine has already been lost. In the coming weeks AIPAC inspired delegations will visit the White House to wear him down. Pressures on him from various sources will be enormous.
The proposition advanced in this article has been further strengthened by Netanyahu’s demands for a “demilitarized” Palestine, ostensibly non-sovereign, and recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state” laid down in his recent speech.
Palestine is a lost cause. The fact that Arabs are such bumbling fools the fight for freedom never got started. No one made “freedom” an issue, a concept well understood in the West.
