Israel formerly accepted the Quartet proposal. The good news is its “”direct negotiations without pre-conditions,”. The bad news is the Quartet will twist our arm until we cry “uncle”. As added leverage “Diplomatic officials told the French news agency AFP that any decision on the Palestinian request would be postponed to give the Quartet time to bring the two sides back to direct negotiations.”
Barry Rubin writes,
Western Policy on Israel-Palestinian Peacemaking is Ludicrously, Totally Wrong and Will Produce Only Humiliating Failure
It’s truly remarkable about how international diplomacy on the Middle East, especially Israel-Palestinian issues, is so out of touch with reality. Consider the Quartet’s response to the mess at the UN. The proposal is for Israel-PA talks to start within a month, both sides to present proposals on borders and security within three months, and to reach a final agreement by the end of 2012.
This is insane. The premise here is that the PA is really eager to negotiate a compromise agreement with Israel. Everything that’s happened in the past three years—indeed the last 18 years since the Oslo agreement was signed—shows the exact opposite. The PA spent a year building its campaign for unilateral independence at the UN precisely to avoid negotiating with Israel at all.
Why then create a Western policy that is not only doomed to fail but certain to fail in the most obvious and humiliating way? The Palestinians won’t negotiate in a month, they won’t rush to present any proposals in three, and they certainly won’t reach a peace treaty in a year. It looks like the PA will reject the whole proposal—a step for which they will pay no penalty but in fact will get more rewards and concessions, and thus will be encouraged to ignore the West even more.
The dumbest possible thing to do is to put a strict time limit on talks when your spoiled and rejectionist “client” doesn’t want to cooperate. The outcome will make the PA look very bad but “fortunately” the media and Western governments won’t point that out. Instead, the PA will run out the one-year deadline, then complain that Israel is at fault and doesn’t really want peace. and then urge speedy Western concessions to the PA and pressures on Israel.
Could anything possibly be more predictable? Perhaps the only possible explanation is that the U.S. government, UN, and EU (I doubt the Russians do so) believe their own propaganda. They really think the PA can’t wait to make a deal if only Israel is forced to negotiate and some more concessions are offer. Haven’t they learned anything?
In addition, perhaps in a time when claimed victimhood is the only measure of what is just, morale, and proper for foreign policy, the Western governments can’t get out of the rut of seeing the Palestinians only as victims. This requires the West to “help” them escape victimhood as fast as possible. Instead, the Palestinian leadership’s goal is the “old-fashioned” concept of total victory and turning their adversaries into total victims.
They don’t want to cease being “victims”; they want to start being conquerers. Consequently, the Western governments think the Palestinians are in a hurry to improve their lot while, in fact, they are patient in seeking instead to grind Israel into the dust.
Meanwhile, veteran Fatah leader Abbas Zaki has openly explained that the whole UN gambit is an effort to get an independent state as a step toward wiping Israel off the map. If Western journalists, experts, government official, and various “peacemakers” understood how this truly represents the Palestinian position a lot of money, time, and lives would be saved.
Or maybe she just wants to distract attention from her current failure over the European Economy?
If there is a rift with the Germans, the blame rests squarely with Merkel. What business is it of the Germans, whether Israelis add rooms to their homes, or build schools for their children? Merkel’s problem is not with Israel, but with her own shaky domestic politics. This is just another chapter in the age-old story of “Blame the Jew”.
If the story about Merkel is true it confirms the fact that she has NAZI DNA.
If the story about Merkel is true it simply proves that she must have National Socialism(Nazi) in her DNA.
Report: German sources say PM downplaying ‘real tension’
By JPOST.COM STAFF
10/02/2011 14:13
German diplomats claim that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is trying to “sweep under the rug” a diplomatic crisis that has developed between Germany and Israel, Army Radio reported.
The report came after the Prime Minister’s Office denied reports that their was a diplomatic rift between the countries, stemming from Israel’s approval of new housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, over the Green Line.
The German sources reportedly told Army Radio that their was “real tension” between the countries. They added that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was “boiling mad” and that Netanyahu had become a persona non grata in her eyes.
Is BB really…
“If Western journalists, experts, government official, and various “peacemakers” understood how this truly represents the Palestinian position a lot of money, time, and lives would be saved.”
Wake up… Western Journalists experts, govt officials and various ‘peacemakers’ are not interested in saving money, time and lives. Duh.
They are interested in paying protection money to not be blown up and otherwise hassled.
They are interested in appearing as though they are ‘fair,’ ‘even-‘handed,’ ‘not racist,’ not anti-Muslem, etc.
They are interested in rising to the top of news purveyors, governments and NGOs in order to become more famous, rich, notorious, admired, etc.
Not-peace guarantees great jobs at high wages. Where would, for example, Human Rights Watch be without israel to crap on? They’d have to have people actually in Sudan, Syria, Burma, North Korea, Congo, etc.
As I say, Duh!