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The Tangled Course to Middle East Peace - Crisis and not Conflict

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Unfortunately, no Israeli Prime Minister is prepared to enter history as the leader who stopped Israel's drive in extending its territory, and swung the pendulum the other way. Israel's government perceives a Palestinian state as a haven for militants who will always desire return of lands and a potential ally of unfriendly states who will use Palestine as a base for attack. And then there are the water rights, fishing rights, air rights, and armament rights. Israel won't concede to anything it has and knows it can easily take. Why change a good thing? Even if Israel agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian nation it will do everything, including armed intervention, to undermine the effectiveness of that state.

From a Palestinian perspective, they will eventually have nothing unless they change their situation from powerless to dignity and strength. They certainly don't want a state that can be undermined or attacked due to a neighbor's whim. Negotiating without power leads to losing direction, being forced to negotiate away, and not permanently settling the issues. It also has an appearance of a promise without enforcement and a future that clings to "peace in our time is assured. Seems we heard that before.

Negotiations are predicted to enable Israel to maintain most of its gains since its establishment and legitimize its seizure of lands and displacement of Palestinians. Before anything else is debated, the essential matters that provoked the crisis (land seizures, oppression, and settlements) must first be ended, so they are no longer confronted.

An Interim Government
Isn't a functioning Palestinian Authority or interim government a preliminary requirement to a resolution of the crisis? Can that government be formed without Hamas having a crucial role?

The democratically elected Hamas has a large constituency that demands return of lands they believe unfairly taken from them. For this reason, Hamas cannot be expected to recognize Israel. Recognition puts Hamas out of existence and certifies Israel has behaved properly. Why would an aggrieved people be willing to do that?

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Dan Lieberman is the editor of Alternative Insight, a monthly web based newsletter. His website articles have been read in more than 150 nations, while articles written for other websites have appeared in online journals throughout the world(B 92, (more...)
 
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