by Barry Rubin
It's time for the absurd paradigm governing the Israel-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflict -- as well as the "peace process" -- to be abandoned or challenged. This narrative has become increasingly ridiculous. The following is close to being the official version:
The Palestinians desperately want an independent state and are ready to compromise to obtain that goal. They will then live peacefully alongside Israel in a two-state solution. Unfortunately, this is blocked either by a) misunderstanding on both sides, or b), per the recent words of the Huffington Post, "the hard-line opponents who dominate Israel's ruling coalition." Israel is behaving foolishly, not seeing that -- as former President Bill Clinton recently said -- Israel needs peace in order to survive. One reason, perhaps a leading one, why Israel desperately needs peace is because of Arab demographic growth. Also, the main barrier to peace is the Jewish settlements.
This interpretation has nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with reality. People on both sides know this, even if they rarely say so publicly. |