Tuesday, May 24, 2011

"... About as close to zero as you can imagine"


"... Although he said Israel would be "very generous on the size of a future Palestinian state," Netanyahu was uncompromising about just whose land he was talking about. As he put it, "In Judea and Samaria the Jewish people are not foreign occupiers. We are not the British in India. We are not the Belgians in the Congo."
 'So, as I was saying, this fellow Obama does not understand you & us!'
Netanyahu also demanded that Abbas immediately "tear up" his recent unity agreement with Hamas, a movement he said was "the Palestinian version of al Qaeda." However vague, these are not terms that any Palestinian leader concerned for his political survival can accept, and indeed, Abbas's side was quick to reject them in no uncertain terms. (One Palestinian official said Netanyahu's speech was "a declaration of war on Palestine.") ... ... the Palestinians will plow ahead with their statehood drive at the United Nations, a move that both Obama and Netanyahu vigorously oppose. Given how recent U.N. votes have gone, the United States will stand alone as the rest of the world denounces the Israeli occupation and embraces a Palestinian state. It may not change any facts on the ground, but it will further illustrate just how isolated America and Israel are becoming. And this may even be an optimistic scenario -- a third intifada may well break out, possibly leading to another round of destabilizing violence. Any shred of hard-won credibility the United States has regained in the Arab world as a result of the "Arab Spring" will be gone.
So is there any hope? ... About as close to zero as you can imagine."

1 comment:

Lysander said...

"Any shred of hard-won credibility the United States has regained in the Arab world as a result of the "Arab Spring..."!?!?!?!

Did I miss something??