A two state solution will have to be achieved not only without U.S. help but in the face of its opposition

Henry Siegman writes:

Is there anyone familiar with the history of the Israel-Palestine peace process who still believes that this Israeli government would defy the over half-a-million settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — by far the most influential political force in Israel — and their networks of supporters within Israel, and present Palestinians with a reasonable peace plan for a two-state solution that would be acceptable to even the most moderate and accommodating of Palestinian leaders?

Shelly Yachimovich, an Israeli Knesset Member who is a leading candidate for the Labor Party’s leadership, recently declared that Israel’s settlement project is “not a sin or a crime” since it was initiated by a Labor government, and therefore “a completely consensual move.” Leaving aside the bizarre notion that the consensus of thieves legitimizes their theft, if these are the views of candidates for Labor Party leadership in today’s Israel, what prospect can there possibly be for an acceptable peace accord to emerge from the peace process?

And is there anyone who witnessed the frenzied applause that greeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most recent speech before the U.S. Congress in which he left no doubt about his government’s intentions for East Jerusalem and for the West Bank, or heard President Obama’s assurances to AIPAC’s conventioneers that the ties that bind the U.S. to Israel are forever “unbreakable,” who still believes that the U.S. will ever exert the kind of pressure on Israel that will finally change its cost/benefit calculations with regard to its colonial project?

These incontestable realities give the lie to America’s absurd insistence — expressed most recently by President Obama on September 12 — that a Palestinian state can be achieved only as a result of an agreement between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas. Surely President Obama must know that left to their own devices, Netanyahu and Abbas will never reach a two state agreement, and that the only purpose a resumed “peace process” would serve is to continue to provide a cover for further Israeli land grabs in the West Bank.

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One thought on “A two state solution will have to be achieved not only without U.S. help but in the face of its opposition”

  1. dickerson3870

    RE: “For Palestinians, as well as the international community, must come to terms with the hard reality that a two state solution will have to be achieved not only without U.S. help but in the face of its opposition.” ~ Henry Siegman

    FOR A NICE EXAMPLE OF THIS, SEE: New European proposal on Mideast peace, By Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, 03/25/11

    (excerpt) Britain, France and Germany want the United Nations and the European Union to propose the outlines of a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, U.N. diplomats said.
    The three European countries, all members of the U.N. Security Council, are pressing for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the European Union to propose a settlement text at a meeting in mid-April of the Quartet of Mideast mediators, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because talks are taking place in private. The quartet includes the U.N., EU, U.S. and Russia.
    The aim is to get a basis for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks to resume.
    Putting the job in the hands of the EU and the U.N. would sideline the United States, Israel’s closest ally which has tried unsuccessfully for months to get face-to-face negotiations going, as well as Russia, an ally of the Palestinians.
    The big question mark is whether the United States would allow the Europeans and U.N. to take the lead in trying to resolve the standoff, and that is likely to depend on whether the Israelis give a green light, the diplomats said…
    [NOTE: THE AMER-ISRAELIS SAID “IXNAY”! (via Hillary Clinton) – J.L.D.]

    ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2011/03/25/1301025600_4

    AND FROM “SECURITY COUNCIL REPORT”, Udate Report No. 2, Israel/Palestine, 04/19/11:

    (excerpt)…The 15 April meeting of the Quartet (the EU, Russia, the UN, and the US) scheduled to be held in Berlin was postponed. Media reports indicate that there was a strong interest by all Quartet members except the US for the meeting to take up a new initiative by France, Germany and the UK to restart Israeli/Palestinian negotiations. In particular there seemed to be interest in the Quartet endorsing parameters for negotiations based on the principle that the 1967 borders should be a starting point, together with clearer language on other final status issues such as refugees, Jerusalem, security arrangements and settlements than the Quartet has used before. Unlike the postponement of its March meeting, there was no forward date set for another meeting….

    SOURCE – http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.6742143/k.6DDB/Update_Report_No_2brIsraelPalestinebr19_April_2011.htm

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