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Reports that Mara Rudman will be heading the US "Dream Team" focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are very encouraging. Mara was in Boston over the winter to address a group at the local Jewish federation. I found her so engaging, I kept in touch with her, asked her serious question and got serious responses. To quote Bill Maher "You've got to give Obama some credit ... he's appointing people that you only used to read about in the paper ... and of course its good to know someone in this administration is actually reading the paper."
Here is a link to learn more about Mara Rudman's background and gravitas. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/05/19/relentless_player_to_push_for_palestinian_state/
But now I want to talk more about WHY this is a good thing and WHY it is still important to read through the MEDIA BIAS over why THEY think its a good thing. Consider this my "MIDDLE EAST USER"S GUIDE" entry for May 20, 2009. (Oh - and Happy Birthday Caryn!)
I am still furious about the coverage Obama's meeting with Netanyahu and Rudman's appointment is getting. Jeff Jacoby tackled this issue a bit in his piece in the globe today, but I won't even provide the link because I DON'T want you to read his column. He is part of the old "knee jerk crowd" that looks at the past few days and simply says "There won't be peace, and its the Palestinians fault." My objective to is to point out why peace will be so challenging, point out where it is the Palestinians' fault, where its the Israeli's fault, and where you and I can have a role in bypassing the dialogue of blame. In fact this week is a PERFECT example of why this approach is so necessary.
As I wrote in my previous entry, the coverage of the past few days would have you believe that these talks were only about getting Netanyahu to say yes to a two state solution. Even on the front page of the globe, you would think that Israel's past four Prime Ministers, the Knesset and the majority of people in the street hadn't been screaming 'TWO STATE SOLUTION" from the hills for the PAST 15 YEARS.
I can only imagine what these talks would have been about if Tzipi Livni and the Kadima party had gotten just a little more support in the past elections. We would probably be talking about borders, timetables, and the ball would be squarely in the Palestinians court as it has been for the past 15 years. But the reason I can't in good conscience write about that first, and the reason Bibi doesn't want to talk about that first is clear.
Please, I challenge you, read the press about the past weeks statements from Hamas leaders, and representatives of the Palestinian Authority. Following the Obama-Netanyahu meeting a Hamas spokesman stated that "What we've seen is a continued development of the Zionist-American relationship at the expense of our people" and "Obama's statements and messages of hope are meant to mislead global public opinion regarding the continued existence and conduct of the racist and extremist Zionist entity."
These are the leaders whom the rest of the world want Netanyahu and Israel to be comfortable with as leaders in a future Palestinian state. Please read the comments by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-President-Obama-and-Israeli-Prime-Minister-Netanyahu-in-press-availability/
Similarly to what my entry said, Netanyahu - and Rudman - both acknowledge that there has to be a way to make an end around the extremists that really hold this whole process hostage. No reasonable person would allow - as it is currently constituted - this Hamas government to ultimately hold power. And in case you didn't know, talks in Egypt between Hamas and Fatah (the group currently in charge in the West Bank) fell through yesterday. THERE IS NOT EVEN A GOVERNMENT TO TALK TO RIGHT NOW AND PEOPLE ARE PORTRAYING ISRAEL AS UNWILLING. The recent leader of Fatah, amid these internal problems acknowledged HIMSELF yesterday that NOW MAY NOT BE THE right time for negotiations. Even Palestinians know this. Why does the rest of the world not want to see it. This is a microcosm of the problem we face in America and Europe. People are so eager to see a solution, that they don't want to look closely at the facts (sound familiar folks).
Now does that mean an overthrow? No. Does that mean some kind of violent incursion? Probably not. (Although think of this when you try to evaluate the Gaza incursion ... What if Israel had somehow defeated Hamas? Think of the door that would be open right now. Don't think for a second that wasn't more on the minds of Israeli leaders than what the media and anti-Israel crowd portrayed. Yes - a high cost for pa ossible future for Palestinians and Israelis. But yes, Israel's leaders do think like that and make those difficult choices daily).
What it does mean is that with people like George Mitchell and Mara Rudman in place, Hamas will be held accountable. They may still be allowed to save face, and be the face of the government, but they will have to change. The Northern Ireland model is the one we have to look at most closely. Remember Shin Fein, "The Political Wing of the IRA". The extremists were slowly marginalized by the international community. The semantics of creating a body NOT committed to violence allowed the wackos to wither on the vine if you will. I am not saying this is entirely possible in this middle east context, but it is the ONLY path that holds merit. And this is why Mitchell and Rudman were brought in. And by the way, this is why Obama's view on Iran is slightly backward. Having fewer arms to throw down and less money to re-arm would be a huge boost to making this process a lragely non-violent one.
But in our daily conversations, understanding this is not enough. If the daily barrage, and the occasional dinner conversation keeps coming back to "Bibi won't say Two States." You need to be able to respond. Why you ask? Because the only way to achieve the solution above, which includs the marginalization of the TRUE extremists in this situation, it must begin at home, and on the ground. The more the networks of extremists feel accepted at home and abroad, the longer they will stay in power. WE DO HAVE A ROLE HERE. I recently asked a crowd I spoke to, to begin taking stands; to read and educate yourself. Acknowledge the faults Israel has to account for. Acknowledge that Bibi not saying the words is a PR nightmare. But DO NOT let others who think they know what's going on shape the argument. If any speaker describes the "Zionist entity" as an evil one, or a racist failed project, you know where they are going. Stand up, prepare to leave, tell them why, and leave. Talk to your friends about the past 15 years of that open door for a two state solution. Talk to your friends about the need for Hamas to cease its language of destruction AND for Bibi to join the rest of the country and almost every other leader. DO NOT let the context be WHAT WILL ISRAEL DO. Return the discussion to what will BOTH SIDES do! Use the Northern Ireland model and the very real way Obama has put it into play. England made compromises. The IRA disarmed for the most part. But both sides only budged after neutral parties helped build trust and provide assurances, timetables, and goals.
The added benefit here is that Obama is seen much more as a neutral party. But again, don't let the fact that Bush's policy of backing Israel all the time, means Israel spent the past eight years perpetrating evil while the US looked the other way. NO. The US looked the other way, and for the most part, Israel still acted in good faith. They did not do enough about settlements, they did not do enough to encourage trust, but they also do not routinely call for the destruction of Palestinians and their state. They acknowledge the dual claim to the land and simply want to end the role extremists have played in derailing all their efforts. And let me be clear about this one last point. When people ask how Israeli's can just "go on" with their lives when Palestinians are suffering. As with most issues, Israeli's look at that differently. They do not see the extremists losong control any time soon nor do they feel the hatred for Israels very presence diminishing any time soon. And so their ONLY option is to LIVE. To yes, build homes in disputed land. To yes, create whatever security measures they think they need to LIVE like the Western Democracy they strive to be. To yes, wage war when they feel it just. This is Israel in 2009.
Hopefully, Mitchell, Rudman, and Obama, can create that momentum and trust so that extremism can wither away in the leadership of the Palestinians. That is what the media should be talking about today, that is what average Palestinians really dream of, and that is why YOU need to be talking about it every chance you get.
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