April 14, 2004

ALL ROADS LEAD TO STATEHOOD:

Bush May Accept West Bank Plan (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 4/14/04, NY Times)

President Bush is planning to issue a declaration on Wednesday that his aides say will recognize Israel's right to retain some Jewish settlements in the West Bank as part of any peace accord with the Palestinians.

The declaration, to be made when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visits the White House, would represent a subtle but substantial shift in American policy, which has viewed the settlements as obstacles to peace and asserted that final borders must be arrived at through negotiations solely between Israel and the Palestinians.


The Bush road map has always had just one destination--Palestinian statehood--though there were three potential routes to get there. First, he told Sharon to accept Arafat as the representative of the Palestinians, so long as he bargained in good faith. Obviously Arafat did not. Mr. Bush then called for new Palestinian leadership, but the new leaders have not bargained realistically either. Now Mr. Sharon gets to impose statehood on the Palestinians and they have to pay a price in territory for not coming to the table.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 14, 2004 9:19 AM
Comments

And you can bet your bottom dollar that the Palestinians are going that extra mile for Palestinian statehood.

(If it's still necessary, this might provide some background.)

Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 14, 2004 9:34 AM

But Arafat's right - this will be the end of the peace process. I'm surprised he has admitted it.

Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at April 14, 2004 11:24 AM

I forget who I'm stealing from, but, "The what process? The peace what?"

Posted by: David Cohen at April 14, 2004 11:25 AM

But where are these settlements in the West Bank, and are they defensible if Israel withdraws?

Posted by: Chris Durnell at April 14, 2004 11:36 AM

There will always be an end to the peace process. (That is, the peace process is never-ending.)

Remember, David, it's not the destination. It's the journey....

Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 14, 2004 11:36 AM

One might venture to say that they are certainly defensible if Israel is allowed to do what has to be done, or at least what the US seems to be able to do.

Or one might venture to say that they are certainly defensible if Israel has the will to defend them (which is, perhaps, another way of restating the first paragraph).

Or one might venture to say that since the Palestinians, supported by lovers and pursuers of peace (and peace processes) worldwide, will claim that these "settlements" are all obstacles to peace, that the conflict will perforce continue, and that Israel will have to continue to terrorize hapless and desperate Palestinian freedom fighters.

That is until Israel realizes that these "settlements," too are expendable.

(Actually, Ma'ale Adumim is a large bedroom suburb/small city between Jerusalem and Jericho, Ariel is a small city to the east of Netanya, Pisgat Ze'ev is a suburban extension of Jerusalem, to the north on the way to Ramallah, and the Etzion Bloc is a cluster of communities between Bethlehem and Hebron, some of which were established in the pre-state period, destroyed in the 1948 war, and then rebuilt after 1967. Kiryat Arba is a community built right next to Hebron, and the Jewish community in Hebron is, well, inside Hebron.)

Following which one might venture to say that the Palestinians and those who believe in their version of justice will maintain that Israeli control of Jerusalem, indeed all of Israel itself, is an obstacle to peace....

Keeping in mind that peace is a journey, not a destination.

Even, if the goal of this particular journey is to make Israel a former destination. So that the name "Israel" will be erased from all maps, not just, as is currently the case, Palestinian ones.

Posted by: Barry Meislin at April 14, 2004 12:53 PM

you're right, Barry

I nominate 'peace process' as the most Orwellian phrase of all time ..


it always sounds to me like 'Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia..'

Posted by: JonofAtlanta at April 14, 2004 1:58 PM

Yeahm it's like "process cheese" - you don't want to see the process, and what it produces isn't cheese ... or peace, for that matter.

Posted by: John Barrett Jr. at April 14, 2004 2:09 PM
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