The 'peace process' is dead - Abu Mazen killed it
Yossi Alpher - who is definitely not a right-winger - laments that Abu Mazen's interview in the Washington Post in May has severely damaged the 'peace process.' Every so often, a national leader makes statements in an interview that redefine his position on the world stage. Abbas appears to have done this. Abbas chose to interpret whatever statement of empathy Olmert made about the refugees--the effort the Israeli leader apparently undertook to offer the Palestinians some sort of psychological closure regarding the events of 1948--as acceptance of the right of return, while the Israeli prime minister understood he was saying the opposite and rejecting the right of return. Abbas looks at an offer of virtually the entire territory of the West Bank, internationalization of the disputed holy sites in Jerusalem and (according to him) the right of return, turns it down and says "the gaps were wide".Jonathan HaLevy shows the parallels between the diplomatic positions of Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, on the one hand, and Abu Mazen and 'Palestinian' Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on the other hand (link in Hebrew). He concludes that there are no significant differences between the positions of Fatah and Hamas regarding fundamental issues related to a political arrangement with Israel - such as Jerusalem, refugees, and borders.
Can we Israelis be blamed for suspecting that we really do not have a partner for a two-state deal?
This is very bad news indeed. Abbas is about as moderate as the Palestinian leadership gets. Olmert proved to be about as moderate as the Israeli leadership gets, placing himself on a par with Yossi Beilin, the chief Israeli architect of the Geneva accords. I know of no other Israeli leader who would wish to offer the Palestinians even more in order to close the gap. I myself would not have offered as much: I believe Palestinians must accept an unequivocal Israeli position that the right of return contradicts the very spirit of a two-state solution. I also would argue that the West Bank-Gaza safe passage corridor is "worth" a lot more than around one percent of the "swaps" calculation, if only because a Palestinian state cannot survive without it.
There's no 'two-state solution' in the offing, because there is no 'Palestinian' leader who is willing to make an offer that would be acceptable to any Israeli leader. The 'Palestinians' don't want a 'two-state solution.' They seek the destruction of the Jewish state.
This video discusses the real obstacle to peace.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: NY Nana)
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:40 AM
4 Comments:
cant wait to see your post on amnesty international and their findings of war crimes in gaza
their numbers are totally off the chart
Thanks for the hat tip, Carl.
The alleged 'peace process' never really existed, I don't think. It was and is a Potempkin Village.
The 'Palestinians' will only settle on taking all of Israel, nothing less.
Abu Mazen? I would not go into shock if he were to be assassinated by his own.
And the damage done by Olmert will take time to clean up.
Aaron,
If you'd clicked the screen at the bottom, you would have found it embedded there.
No Arab leader can have the political courage of a Sadat or Gemayel today without winding up dead. Abbas isn't a moderate but if he was one, he just doesn't have the political clout to carry his people towards a peace deal with Israel. Israel today has no Palestinian partner and that's why a Palestinian state is not going to happen in our lifetime.
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