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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Bush's lethal legacy to the Palestinians |
| 2008-12-13 |
| Notwithstanding widespread hopes that US President-Barack Obama will save the Middle East from itself, it is increasingly evident that it might will be beyond anyone's powers to soon repair the damage wrought by eight years of George W. Bush. Regardless of how committed Obama may (or may not) prove to be, the fact remains that many of the conditions necessary for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are neither present nor close at hand. The Hamas-Fatah feud makes one side too divided to either negotiate a full and fair agreement or properly implement one, and Israel's voters apparently feel so guilty at having been led by Ehud Olmert that they look set to engage in mass self-flagellation by electing Benjamin Netanyahu, an avowed foe of the entire peace process. All of this threatens to extend the Palestinians' seemingly interminable season of dispossession. My own unease over this state of affairs is piqued by the evident satisfaction that some commentators - particularly American neoconservatives but also some of their fellow travelers in the Middle East - are taking at something that ought to unnerve any reasonable individual. These suggest (as they always have) that Arabs don't (and shouldn't) care all that much about the Palestinian cause, argue tacitly that peace is not even worth pursuing until Arab states have democratized, and peddle the familiar line that Hamas is irrevocably hostile to a negotiated solution. To be fair, the records of the neocons and their minions make such positions virtually unavoidable unless they are to abandon even the pretense of consistency. Their cheerleading for George W. Bush's illegal and immoral war in Iraq leaves no option but to deny the Palestinians their rights until each of their cousins has had a Magna Carta moment. And their ritual denunciations of political Islam, absent similar scorn for things like Christian fundamentalism and Zionism, close all avenues but those leading to a classic Catch-22: The Arabs have to embrace democracy soon or the Islamists will take over, but if the Arabs embrace democracy, the Islamists will take over even sooner. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 The only people Hamas would rather kill than Fatah is Jews. Paleos are like Orcs; they hate each other to the death, but have no qualm whatsoever about joining together to fight, and if possible kill, anyone less foul than them. Which just happens to be anyone that isn't Paleo. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-12-13 17:31 |
| #5 The Hamas-Fatah feud makes one side too divided to either negotiate a full and fair agreement or properly implement one, The writer's premise, and I think Obama's as well, is that there is any desire on the part of the palestinians for a full and fair agreement. I wonder how long they will cling to that belief and what the cost will be. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-12-13 12:27 |
| #4 I hope the writer is correct about Israel choosing Netanyahu in February. I had great hopes for Kadimah under Ariel Sharon, but... |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-12-13 10:41 |
| #3 Marc J. Sirois is managing editor of THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon). so, Marc, as usual, it's all the Joooos faults and Boosh for imposing consequences for the Paleo behavior. Damn them! Bias and loud-mouthed ignorance, the hallmark of journalism |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-12-13 10:39 |
| #2 The only way to make peace with Arabs is to make a solitude and call it peace. At present it's impractical due to "World Opinion". However, with the coming worldwide depression (one that'll compare to the "Great Depression" like WWII compared to the "Great War"), "World Opinion" will too busy with other things to worry about uppity Jews. And George, the mental titan, certainly bears responsibility for that happening on his watch. S0 you see Mark, at least for Arab-Israeli conflict, his legacy is good. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-12-13 06:48 |
| #1 Odious, gigantic genocidal despotism (Iraq) eliminated, consensual democratic base laid in its stead. Libyan kooks intimidated into abandoning WMD madness. Gaza evacuated. Palestinian elections held. One billionth forthcoming chance offered to Palestinians to make something of the situation. Boy, that's some "damage" and "lethal legacy". Not that it's the first time it's occurred to me, obviously, but the depth of detachment from reality, and the moral inversion, of people like this author are astonishing. Borrowing one of Steyn's phrases, it's now looking like "Israel Alone," thanks to the ascent of the empty one in the US. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2008-12-13 03:38 |