http://orlandosentinel.com/opinion/columnists/reese/110799_reese07_21.htm
Given pre-conditions for peace,
what's to negotiate in Mideast?
By Charley Reese,
The Orlando Sentinel, November 7, 1999
I wouldn't bet the family dog on the prospects of peace in
the Middle East, despite the president's assertion that a
ceremonial summit meeting in Oslo has "revitalized the
peace pro-cess."
Before the negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
had said no to the return of Palestinian refugees, no to
dismantling settlements in the West Bank, no to returning
East Jerusalem to the Palestinians and no to giving control
of the water under their own land to Palestinians.
Given those pre-conditions, what is there to negotiate?
Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat gambled at the original
Oslo meeting that reasonableness on the part of
Palestinians would help persuade the United States and
Europe to pressure the Israelis into some kind of reciprocal
reasonableness. Well, Arafat is about to find out he lost his
bet.
With presidential primary elections looming in the United
States, normally spineless politicians when it comes to
facing up to the Israeli lobby will become positively watery.
They will push and shove in a contest to see who can lick
the lobby's boots the quickest and cleanest.
Europeans have never been interested in much of anything
except their own well-being, and there's hardly any money
to be made supporting the Palestinians, who have the
misfortune of being right but broke and oil-free. In their
case, having truth, justice and international law on their side
will get them a 75-cent cup of coffee -- if they have the
six bits.
It isn't just American politicians who ignore the
Palestinians. It's most American liberals, especially those
who love to yak about how important treaties, international
law and the United Nations are to world peace. But they
grow silent when someone points out that Israel has told the
United Nations to stuff some 60-odd resolutions in its ear.
The fact of the matter is that the peace process should be
under United Nations supervision and auspices. The United
States, which loves to use the United Nations as a cover to
kill Iraqi children, has always told, per its instructions, I
presume, the United Nations to butt out of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The U.S. position is that the Indonesians and the Timorese
cannot settle their own affairs; the Serbs and Albanians
cannot settle their own affairs; the Iraqis and the Kuwaitis
cannot settle their own affairs; but the Israelis and
Palestinians can, and the United States will not have any
interference by the United Nations. In fact, though, Israel
was created by the United Nations, and the Palestinian
refugees have been a U.N. responsibility for 50 years.
In case you haven't figured it out, the reason the United
States and Israel insist on no U.N. participation is that
Palestinians have no leverage whatsoever without the
United Nations and so end up agreeing to whatever the
Israelis dictate. That way, the United States, like Pontius
Pilate, can wash its hands and disclaim any blame for the
crucifixion of Palestinian dreams and hopes for
independence.
It's really hard to respect a government in Washington that
is so blatantly hypocritical. Most of the world doesn't
respect the United States. People fear its power, but they
don't respect it. It is fast becoming, like the 19th century
British, a pompous, sanctimonious bully.
That isn't good for us ordinary Americans who would like
to see everybody get a square deal. It's not in our
self-interest to allow corrupt politicians and
internationalists to alienate the rest of the world while
pursuing their own narrow economic interests. It is not in
our self-interest to have any foreign country dictate or
purchase our nation's foreign policy.
In the meantime, don't expect to see peace and goodwill in
the Holy Land any time soon.
[Posted 11/06/1999 6:18 PM EST]
