1:57pm UK, Thursday 21 March 2013
Mr Obama's trip to Ramallah (click here) was bookended by stark reminders of the tensions in the region as Palestinian militants fired rockets across the border and Iran threatened to destroy two Israeli cities.
The President held talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and told a news conference that the US is "deeply committed" to a two-state solution, but the only way to achieve it is through negotiation.
Mr Obama said that Israel's ongoing settlement building was unhelpful to the pursuit of peace but urged the Palestinians not to make halting the policy a precondition for negotiations....
There was a word that impressed me about the President's speech when discussing a Mideast Peace between the two nations of Israel and Palestine.The word was contiguous.
One of the frequent complaints we hear from Israel is the difficulty that exists in defending it's borders because it is a small country. It is not only a small country, but, it has another country existing within it. There are some problems when such realities exist.
The complaints about the Jewish Settlements goes on and the Palestinians are very upset over the way their land simply disappears into Israeli lands. In the documentary, "Five Broken Cameras," there is a man that is asked where he lives. He says, 'I have no home, my land has been taken from me by Israel.' And he is asked if he will ever be able to go back to his land with a peace agreement with Israel and he states, 'No, they built on it.'
To say Israel is not sensitive to the problems with the settlements is a lie. They are. They were sensitive enough under Prime Minister Sharon to vacate Gaza. That is not a minor gesture. That was sincere trauma for Israel. So, the Palestinians have to first appreciate the sacrifice Israel has made for peace already.
The problem, as I see it, is not so much what Israel has to do to achieve peace with Palestine, but, what is Palestine doing to appreciate such a gesture toward the reality of peace. Such appreciation would go a long way to find a final resolution to peace.
The problem in Palestine in reaching a peaceful resolve to their homeland has to begin with recognition of Israel's right to exist by Hamas. While President Abbas may have already passed that hurdle, Hamas and the people of Gaza want nothing more but concessions by Israel to make it disappear off the map.
If Israel realizes it has a challenge to defend it's borders than why is that not the case with the Palestinian nation? Does it not want to have defensible borders to it's country or does it want to exist in fragmented pieces with no chance of it's people living within one nation. A fragmented Palestine had destabilized both Israel and Palestine. There is no cohesive government because of the fragmented nations. Israel is far more stable because it has the larger land mass, but, Palestine cannot go on forever in fragments and separated people.
i realize the land within Israel is precious based on religious beliefs. The land of the Middle East in many countries is the same commodity. Even Iraq, when invaded by the USA has precious religious lands. I suppose they could be considered religious landmarks and designated under UN charters as special places that cannot be destroyed. But, somehow the depth these lands touch the very essence of religious beliefs is more profound than any status it can be afforded. So, the lands within Israel are not unique in their importance to religious beliefs. As proof, the pilgrimages by many ethnicity to these lands is historic.
The Palestinians are Muslim in their religious beliefs. The Jewish people are not. The primary focus of one of the Five Pillars of the Muslim faith is not in Jerusalem but in Mecca. Mecca is protected by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
So, while Jerusalem is important to the Palestinian nation, it is also important to many, many other faiths. The fact of the matter is Jerusalem is being used by extremists to seek leverage to again remove Israel from the map. That was realized a long time ago by Yassar Arafat, former Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and leader of the Fatah political party and former paramilitary group, which he founded in 1959. It is that recognition that brought him to the peace tables with Israel.
There are some things that are possible in the real world and some things that are ideological. The idea Jerusalem can be shared is not realistic. There is no threat to the openness of Jerusalem to any pilgrim to the Holy Land unless a war would break out to remove Israel from existence. That would be bad.
The idea Israel is not a real country and somehow carved out of a fantasy has been laid to rest a long time ago. The Jewish people have paid dearly for their expulsion from the Holy Land by Romans and otherwise. It is time to end this mess in a way that makes sense and is POSSIBLE. Arafat knew that and it is time all Palestinians realize the dream of their leader was peace. Arafat rejected the extremists. He had to live among them, but, he ultimately rejected the Sheik's idea of the best outcome to join with the rest of the world with what was possible.
I believe it is a mistake to leave out the voice of the former Palestine leader Yassar Arafat to bring about peace. Arafat was a realist and Hamas dearly needs to be reminded of that. The people displaced by the Israeli settlements need to be compensated so they can get on with their lives. It is wrong for Israel to ignore that reality. Israel has radicalized these people and never bothered to explain their possibilities or offer a direction for their lives and their children.
Posted on March 17
...One of the reasons given (click here) for why the American president might ...want to skip Ramallah is the fact that if he visits the secured and natural offices of the Palestinian president he will have a political difficulty. Pundits (mostly western) are claiming that if Obama passes by the grave of Yasser Arafat which is centrally located within the Muqata’a presidential compound that the American leader will have a difficult choice. Not laying a wreath will be seen as an insult to Palestinians while doing so would be seen in negative terms by some Israelis.
This is precisely the political correctness that has made a mockery of the so called claims that the US is an honest broker when it comes to the Middle East conflict....
