The Obama administration has been frustrated by the lack of movement on all sides but has reportedly been particularly disappointed by how little Arab countries have been willing to do or even promise.
Wary from past experience of negotiating with the Israelis, the official Arab position has been one of “show us the goods, then we will talk”.
This just about sums about what I have seen and heard in the region. No one is in the mood for more talk of rapprochement with Israel. With the United States, definitely. There is still a hope that the United States will provide the leadership to move governments in the region toward a new direction of engagement with their people. But the war on Gaza was far more of a watershed than anyone understands in Western capitals, especially in Israel, where the government continues to produce reports about a just war fought justly. I have never seen such an amazing gap between the psychology of Israeli Jews and just about everyone else. No one trusts a word from Israel, and on the contrary expect only tricks now. At the same time, the situation of Arab and Palestinian politics is moribund. Sharon really did succeed brilliantly in dividing and conquering.
What will be? My hopes are placed on the young, on those who understand the power of actions over words, and the non-negotiable reality of the future of the whole planet riding on absolute equality of citizens, of human beings, that is wedded to a respect for all life. The more young people, from Iran to North Africa, jump on that bandwagon, and work together across enemy lines for mutual prosperity, the more that the sick ideologies of the past will die away. Death to ideology, long live the young.
Recent Comments