It has been said and repeated over and over that all the ingredients are here for the conclusion of an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis yet this is not happening. People are asking why it is not happening and no one seems to have a satisfactory answer. The chance which is now described as being the last chance to conclude an agreement between the two parties is here again but everyone, including those who profess to be optimistic by nature, are fearful that the negotiations will fail again and leave the world with only dire alternatives to choose from once more. Well, there are reasons why the quest to forge a peace agreement in the Middle East has been failing. If these reasons are well understood and if they are duly removed, their removal will make possible the conclusion of a peace treaty between the antagonists. However, all those reasons rest on one essential point, the courage to admit that the establishment of the state of Israel was an illegitimate act to begin with, and that its continued existence will remain illegitimate until it has been redeemed one way or the other. If and when this happens, work to repair the damage done to the people of Palestine can begin in earnest and thus form the foundation on which the peace agreement can be erected. If done right, it can be fashioned into a durable agreement that will give Israel the sense of legitimacy it never had.
To put things simply, it is possible for the United States of America to make that elusive peace treaty a reality after only one day of negotiations because this is all it will take to tell Israel and her supporters they are on their own because America has had it up to here with them. Such move has not happened until now because there was and there still is a problem; it is that instead of playing a constructive role, America has stood as impediment to a successful outcome all along. More precisely, America was turned into the instrument by which the enemies of peace have torpedoed the path to it every time the parties came close to an agreement. This sort of thing has been happening because America's power and prestige were utilized to try and legitimize the illegitimate. And this was done in the worst possible way, that of leveling an absurd accusation against other people, the accusation that they are out to delegitimize what is already illegitimate by its very nature.
We begin to get an understanding as to how all this is woven together into one sad fabric when we analyze the address given at the UN General Assembly by the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, on September 23, 2010. After reviewing the state of the world, he talked about the Middle East by saying that most people are skeptical about the peace negotiations now underway because there have been many previous attempts, all of which failed. And he goes on to say this: “...But I ask you to consider the alternative. If an agreement is not reached, Palestinians will never know the pride and dignity that comes with their own state. Israelis will never know the certainty and security that comes with sovereign and stable neighbors who are committed to coexistence.” What you have here is the description of a situation that does not reflect reality totality or accurately. What is remarkable about it is that it was voiced by the President of the United States. What is disheartening in all of this is that the President is proving he has a fundamental misunderstanding of the undercurrents animating the struggle in the Middle East. The reality is that the Palestinians are not up against the Israelis alone, they are up against the entire World Jewry which is looking beyond the borders of Palestine and has ambitions past all of that.
If the talks were left to the Palestinians and the Israelis alone, the chances would be good that a peace agreement can be put together after only one day of negotiations. However, the reality is that the Palestinians are negotiating not with the Israelis alone but with a World Jewry that is manipulated by the America Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). And this organization is using American power and prestige to advance its own causes. It has ambitions that go beyond Palestine to all the Arab nations, and beyond that to all the Muslim nations. The proof of this is that America was dragged in at least two quagmires, Iraq and Afghanistan, to fulfill those ambitions. And how do you verify this theory? Well, let's hear it from the President himself: “I know many in this hall count themselves as friends of the Palestinians. But these pledges of friendship must now be supported by deeds. Those who have signed on to the Arab Peace Initiative should seize this opportunity to make it real by taking tangible steps towards the normalization that it promises Israel.”
What in Heaven, on Earth and in Hell is this about? Well, the Arab Peace Initiative was formulated by the Arab League in the name of the Arab countries after repeated demands from America that all the Arabs -- not just the front-line states -- agree to normalize relations with Israel if and when a peace agreement is reached between the two parties, and Israel has withdrawn from all Arab territories, especially the Palestinian territories. This Initiative was forged years ago at which time the world thought that because the Jews got what they wanted they will now withdraw in exchange for the peace they have been seeking for decades. The Arabs thought so too but not some Jews who were skeptical because they knew what their self-appointed leaders were up to. I used to have a Jewish friend who, I am certain, would have been skeptical as well. In the face of this situation he would have thrown his hands up in the air and cried out: “Light up the oven”. Knowing that the self-appointed leaders of the Jews were all phony, he used to complain that they will again force mankind to send the Jews to their holocaust then convert to another religion, and live the good life with the money they made at the expense of ordinary Jews.
My Jewish friend would have seen in the call of the American President a treachery with the Star of David stamped all over it. He would have seen a President call on the Arabs to fulfill their part of the bargain by normalizing relations with Israel before Israel had withdrawn from the occupied lands so that Israel take the normalization and not fulfill its part of the bargain by giving back the territories. In reality therefore, the American President is advocating that Israel get both the recognition and the land. You know, my dear reader, Shylock in the Merchant of Venice only wanted the money or a pound of flesh but not both, and look how Europe responded in the end; it baked the Jews to a crisp in the ovens of the Holocaust. Now try to imagine what the world will think of a new breed of Jews who want the money, the pound of flesh and the land. Is this the end that Barack Obama is seeking for the Jews? If the answer is no, then he must never, never, never again call on the Arabs to fulfill their part of the bargain without Israel fulfilling its part. On the contrary, he should be out there in every forum calling on the Israelis to withdraw from the occupied lands so as to receive the Arab recognition they have been asking for; and more importantly because America has had it up to here with them and wants to begin looking after its own interest and its people.
And if you ask why America cannot be preoccupied with both Israel and itself at the same time, I say look at the following statement made by the President in that same address: “Israel is a sovereign state, and the historic homeland of the Jewish people. It should be clear to all that efforts to chip away at Israel’s legitimacy will only be met by the unshakeable opposition of the United States.” Let's parse this statement and look at it piece by piece. First, he says that Israel is a sovereign state. And I say so was South Africa during the apartheid years, yet people chipped away at the legitimacy of the regime till it fell and was replaced by a normal regime. And this is why America is now seen as standing on the wrong side of history, siding with a savage Israeli regime, a heavy burden to carry even for a healthy superpower. Second, the President says that Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people. I say that until someone defines “Jewish people” the statement will make no sense, and America will be chasing wild geese chasing after authentic Jews. But even if a goose could be caught, the President of America will have to explain which history he is talking about. If he means the history of the Promised Land that God gave to the Jews, I have news for him. God also promised me an island in the South Seas, and I am still waiting.
Third, we come to the last and juiciest part of that infamous statement: “It should be clear to all that efforts to chip away at Israel’s legitimacy will only be met by the unshakeable opposition of the United States.” This part must be juxtaposed (a) with the often repeated statement to the effect that there is no daylight between the positions of the United States and that of Israel, and (b) with the often repeated statement that America will always maintain in Israel weapons with a qualitative edge over those procured by the other armies in the region. In effect then, he is saying that when it comes to need, Israel will be treated like an American territory and her needs fulfilled promptly, to the hilt and then some. But when it comes to obligation, no one in America will dare question what the leaders of Israel can or cannot do in America's name with America's money and America's weapons. Well, my answer to this is that if the American President is serious about all this, I have news for him: I have a better chance at getting that Island in the South Seas from God than America has the ability to deliver on these promises and look like anything but a ship of fools.
The good thing is that the American President seems to understand that even though America is still a superpower, it has its limits. Look at a statement he made in that same address: “The world that America seeks is not one we can build on our own. For human rights to reach those who suffer the boot of oppression, we need your voices to speak out. In particular, I appeal to those nations who emerged from tyranny and inspired the world in the second half of the last century -- from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to South America. Don’t stand idly by, don’t be silent ... Recall your own history. Because part of the price of our own freedom is standing up for the freedom of others.” To me, what the President is here referring to is clear like the sun on a day free of clouds. This is because I still recall the days when during the savage campaigns mounted by the Jewish organizations in America to silence every voice that opposed the criminal behavior of Israel, even Bishop Tutu of South Africa was prevented from speaking his mind at a forum that had invited him and was preparing to hear him out. Clearly, the President feels that America is the one country in the world that needs to be liberated from the Jewish boot of oppression pressing on its neck. Maybe he has found a subtle way to appeal to those nations who emerged from tyranny and inspired the world in the second half of the last century -- from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to South America not to stand idly by, and not to remain silent but recall their own history because part of the price of their freedom is standing up for the freedom of America too. How beautiful, how poetic, bravo Mr. President, may you give many more of these speeches.
And I say amen to all that because when this is done, the problems of the Middle East, indeed the problems of the world, will be resolved automatically.