>And so it continues but, of course, Arafat was the problem!
Arafat was one of a number of problems.
I haven't been following this situation much lately, but...
Over the last few months since Arafat's death, I know that while Israel remains less helpful and more heavy-handed than I'd like and while our country has remained stupidly unengaged from the situation, but Sharon has:
-Pushed through his Gaza disengagement plan, which could've killed his career
How could it kill his career? The majority of Israelis agree with the pull out.
-Embraced Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin and much of the Israeli left
Bush embraces the Dems all the time.......it means squat.
-Alienated much of the fanatic right
Has he? I think the whole thing is staged. I agree he has alienated the right wing settlers but that was inevitable. However, the right wing parties scream bloody murder and threatens to pull out of the coalition but in reality, I think only one did and now I believe its come back. I think the right wing parties make a big thing of the Gaza pullout so that Sharon is not forced to do anything more than the minimum when it comes to the WB.
-Discussed closing some West Bank settlements
I really don't believe Israel has any attention of vacating the WB. Gaza is the throwaway to placate the Palestinians.....and Gaza is the throwaway because its of little value to anyone but the settlers. The WB has much more value for Israel.
This is all much more than I'd have ever expected him to do, in a good way (though he really needs to do much more).
In the meantime, Abbas has:
-Said that he will not disarm Hamas and the other militant groups
Why would he? Most Palestinians believe that it is Hamas that keeps the pressure on Israel to consider their freedom.
-Tried to embraced Hamas and the other militant groups
I don't see that he has a choice.
-Used the term "The Zionist Enemy" to refer to Israel, a term that's normally only used by the militant groups, and one that implies that Israel is illegitimate and shouldn't exist.
While I don't think that's smart, I don't agree with your definition of the term. I think most Arabs mean that term to suggest an expansionist attitude on the part of Israel. After all, it was the Zionist who came in and took over.......at first simply to co exist with the Arabs, then to have their own state that grew in size before and after statehood, then annexing portions of Gaza and the WB and now refusing the Palestinians their own state.
My jury's still out on Abbas (though I didn't expect much from a guy who wrote his college thesis saying the Holocaust didn't happen), and I'm willing to give him quite a bit more time, given that things are relatively peaceful there, but I think he's just another part of the problem.
You are worried about something he wrote 50 years ago. What about Sharon saying just three years ago that the Palestinians will never be free?
Having said all that, I really don't give a crap; there's too much to worry about elsewhere and this situation just seems intractable.
My worry is that Bush is taking a page from Sharon's book and we are headed down the same path that is Israel's. The neocons seem overly impressed with Sharon and IMO the religious fundamentalists give Israel too much importance in regards to its position as keeper of Christian artifacts.
ted |
