Middle East peace talks to resolve the so-called Israeli-Palestinian crisis have been coming and going most of my adult life and I’m no spring chicken — free range or otherwise. And now here they are again! But this time, as opposed to all those other times, the AP’s Robert Burns informs us, “the stakes are high.” Well, yes… but maybe not in the way Burns intended.
What’s really going on here? Let’s do a thought experiment.
The last time a hopeful world got transfixed by this roundelay (although this time it might not be paying much attention anyway) was back at the tail end of the Clinton presidency when Bill was trying to untie this Gordian knot and win himself a Nobel Peace Prize. Those discussions began at Camp David in 2000 and dribbled on to Taba in early 2001 when it all went south with the Second Intifada and an Israeli election.
Tons of books and articles have been written about this, I’ve even read and forgotten a few, but I recall enough to know that a lot of ink was spilled about just what percentage of the Palestinian demands were acceded to by the Israelis. Some said as much as 98%, while others said more like 90, or maybe even a paltry 88.
Now here’s the thought experiment part. I’m assuming most of the readers here — in this case I’d wager 99% of you — have been in negotiations themselves. When you got 98% or even 88% of what you wanted, did you walk away and start a war… okay, just walk away? And if you did, why did you do that … when you were so close to making a deal? You could obviously hang around in negotiations and get most, if not all, of what you wanted....
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Tea Party activists among thousands attending rightwing host's 'Restoring Honour' rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial
Glenn Beck speaking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA They came in tens of thousands to hear their leader speak in the heart of Washington, thronging the mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial, hanging on words dedicated to freedom and struggle.
That was the scene 47 years ago when Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream" speech that came to define the triumphs of the civil rights era and the fight to overcome racial prejudice.
It was also the scene yesterday as rightwing Fox News host Glenn Beck spoke at his "Restoring Honour" rally, stirring up a huge crowd of supporters, most of whom adhered to the beliefs of the conservative Tea Party movement.
It was clearly more than just a half a century that separated the two events and two men; there was also a massive political chasm. Beck, a controversial figure who has said Barack Obama is a racist who hates white culture, has claimed his rally is non-political and that the timing of it with King's anniversary was an accident. But few take him at his word.
Beck's television show, radio programme and speaking tours are constantly devoted to the idea that Obama and senior Democrats are closet socialists, or even communists, dedicated to forcibly transforming America into a leftwing society.
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Militants in Gaza, the coastal enclave controlled by Hamas, fired at least nine projectiles into Israel, causing no injuries. Israel responded with an air strike on Gaza, killing a 23-year-old Palestinian man.
The upsurge in attacks came during talks in Jerusalem, where Washington is pushing for a breakthrough in the peace process, launched a fortnight ago after nearly two years of stalled negotiations.
At the end of the second day, George Mitchell, the US envoy, sounded a cautious note of optimism, hinting that the two sides were making progress over the extension of a construction freeze in the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
"We continue in our efforts to make progress in that regard and believe we are doing so," Mr Mitchell told reporters after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Jerusalem.
"The two leaders are not leaving the tough issues to the end of their discussions," he added. "We take this as a strong indicator of their belief that peace is possible."
Ahead of a packed day of meetings, Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, had reiterated...(click here to read the full article source)
