Gideon Levy writes: If United States Secretary of State John Kerry fails in his efforts, it will be a disaster; if he succeeds, it will be an even greater disaster. Failure is liable to herald what New York Times analyst Thomas Friedman has called “the Brussels intifada,” a third intifada that won’t involve bombings and violence but sanctions and international boycotts of Israel. Failure will push the Palestinians back to the United Nations, where even the U.S. may remove its automatic and blind veto umbrella that has always protected Israel there. In the end, failure is also liable to reignite the fire of rebellion in the territories.
But success would be even more ominous. Kerry is not an honest broker, because the U.S. cannot be one − not even the U.S. of President Barack Obama, as disappointing as that is. The absolute ally of one side can never be a fair intermediary, not in business and not in diplomacy. An ally that cannot exploit the dependence of its protectorate to advance a fair agreement can’t achieve anything that will resolve the ultimate problems.
Instead, the name of the game now is exploiting the weakness of the Palestinian Authority. With the Arab world fighting its own regimes and the Western world tired of this endless conflict, the Palestinians are left alone to their fate. America is trying to bring them to their knees and subdue them. If it succeeds, it will be a disaster. [Continue reading…]
I wonder why Levy thinks failure of the Kerry intervention will be a disaster. As he says, failure will (might?) lead to a “Brussels intifada,” that is, a continuation and intensification of the small steps recently taken by various elements within the EU to boycott Israel or Israeli companies (mostly those which operate in the OPTs or support the occupation).
I cannot think of any other pathway to a different continuation from today’s apartheid occupation than an EU (or UN) intervention. If I were a praying man I sould pray for it.
Why, then, would it be a disaster? And what could possibly be better than that outcome? Better for whom? I desire better fo Palestinians, just so the record is clear.