Het klinkt wat havikachtig soms, maar dit is wel precies het perspectief dat altijd zo ontbreekt in onze media.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. See the GLORIA/MERIA site at www.gloria-center.org .
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How Can Israel depend on those who have Proven Undependable?
By Barry Rubin
Back in 1993, when the "peace process" began, President Bill Clinton told a press conference that Israel was ready to take risks for peace and he told Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, "If you do that, my role is to minimize those risks."
One of the most important elements in contemporary Israeli thinking is the irony of those words. Clinton, of course, meant them and his intentions were good. But looking back from 2009, the risks taken by Israel and the concessions it has made have repeatedly plagued the country and cost the lives of thousands of its citizens.
Not only has the United States - and the Europeans who made similar pledges - failed to minimize the costs of this process but in most cases they have not even acknowledged it. Israeli concessions have not, as was expected, led to increasing support and public respect, quite the opposite.
Anyone who wants to deal with the conflict today must acknowledge and deal with this experience but we find that it is not happening. In the statements of Western leaders and in the media, what we usually discover is that such matters are either not mentioned at all or only passed over in ritualistic fashion. There is much talk about Israeli concessions and responsibilities, virtually none about Palestinian ones.
Thus, the two-state solution (TSS) or stopping settlement construction or removing roadblocks are spoken about as if these things alone will bring peace. There is little about a Palestinian Authority (PA) end to incitement to murder Israelis and denial of Israel's right to exist (which goes on daily) or better security efforts, or agreement to end the conflict or to resettle refugees within a Palestinian state. There is little acknowledgement that Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip is not just an inconvenience but an almost total roadblock for any hope of peace.
Note well, these are not "hawkish" or "anti-peace" arguments. Anyone who wants to make progress must deal with them very seriously. If these issues are ignored, failure is inevitable.
Israelis remember, though others may not, that ... [read further at: How Can Israel depend on those who have Proven Undependable? ]
One of the most important elements in contemporary Israeli thinking is the irony of those words. Clinton, of course, meant them and his intentions were good. But looking back from 2009, the risks taken by Israel and the concessions it has made have repeatedly plagued the country and cost the lives of thousands of its citizens.
Not only has the United States - and the Europeans who made similar pledges - failed to minimize the costs of this process but in most cases they have not even acknowledged it. Israeli concessions have not, as was expected, led to increasing support and public respect, quite the opposite.
Anyone who wants to deal with the conflict today must acknowledge and deal with this experience but we find that it is not happening. In the statements of Western leaders and in the media, what we usually discover is that such matters are either not mentioned at all or only passed over in ritualistic fashion. There is much talk about Israeli concessions and responsibilities, virtually none about Palestinian ones.
Thus, the two-state solution (TSS) or stopping settlement construction or removing roadblocks are spoken about as if these things alone will bring peace. There is little about a Palestinian Authority (PA) end to incitement to murder Israelis and denial of Israel's right to exist (which goes on daily) or better security efforts, or agreement to end the conflict or to resettle refugees within a Palestinian state. There is little acknowledgement that Hamas's control of the Gaza Strip is not just an inconvenience but an almost total roadblock for any hope of peace.
Note well, these are not "hawkish" or "anti-peace" arguments. Anyone who wants to make progress must deal with them very seriously. If these issues are ignored, failure is inevitable.
Israelis remember, though others may not, that ... [read further at: How Can Israel depend on those who have Proven Undependable? ]
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