‘We have met the enemy and they are us’ goes the famous Pogo line, and it seems applicable today to who it is that is impeding Middle East peace. Us. Israel is running US foreign policy in the Middle East, obviously, and that policy is pure right wing Likud, which, all pretenses aside, is against the emergence of a Palestinian state.
It has become a broken record. Israel claims that its “security needs” come first, and then harp on the usual red herrings, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran, ignoring entirely the crux of the security issue: the continuation of the occupation and colonization of Palestine.
Take the latest Israeli-US interaction in this story by Haaretz: Rahm Emanuel invites Netanyahu to discuss ‘shared security interests’ with Obama. “Israeli officials say implied offer of talks on Iran is U.S. attempt to eclipse memories of PM’s previous White House visit, seen by Israelis as a snub.” Obama is on his knees.
Almost nothing of substance is mentioned in this article about the peace process. To the contrary, Netanyahu is actually praised for his generous concessions: he slowed down the colonization, which is slated to resume at full throttle in a few months, and opened a few checkpoints.
With a clearer vision, Richard Hall wrote this passage about Noam Chomsky’s recent denial of entry into Palestine in order to speak at a West Bank university:
On a visit to Beirut as part of a regional tour, the world-renowned linguist, scholar and political analyst talks about the most recent crisis facing the region, and how the United States and Israel are alone in blocking a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. On proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians recently re-launched by US envoy George Mitchell, Chomsky says he has little hope.
“The fact of the matter is that it is the wrong people negotiating, it should be the United States and the world. Because what in fact has been happening for 34 years, and is happening now, is that there is an overwhelming international consensus on the general terms of a diplomatic resolution and the US is blocking it. On the ground Israel is blocking it, but Israel can’t do anything without US authorization, so it is in fact the US who is blocking it.”
As for Chomsky’s blocked entry into the West Bank,
More than 500 Israeli academics have denounced the government decision banning famed Jewish-American linguist Noam Chomsky from entering the West Bank last week.
In a letter to Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Tuesday, they accusing the ministry of harming democracy and academic freedoms. The letter says: “Blocking someone whose opinions are not accepted is a mortal blow to democracy.”
And just what difference will it make? The Israeli people have already delivered a blow to its democracy by electing into office a right wing government prepared to wipe out a Palestinian state, lest we assume that the gulag seen below could ever become Palestine.
So where do things stand in the negotiations? Jerusalem will forever be part of Israel, no withdrawal from the Israeli cities, towns, and outposts built in the West bank, the Jordan Valley belongs to Israel, and the Jordan border, which looks 20 miles in width (below), will not be given up. It’s a security matter, we are told.
