Gaza; more of the past, or room for a future?

Is the current crisis in Gaza a storyline about futility and inevitable violence? Or does the awaited conversation between the agrieved parties and the the world community offer the hope of better outcomes, as the Obama diplomatic team suits up and takes the floor with their teammates from the UN, Russia and the Western Alliance? Admitedly, hope seems misplaced, as Israeli troops mass at the borders of Gaza at the start of a probable ground action. But time has proven that each element in the 60 year war form patterns in a tapestry. And hope is one of the patterns.

The dust from the 2008 election has settled and the business of governing resumed. Though many issues clamor for attention with equal claim to urgency, the mid-east looms large. With Iraq showing at least enough stability to permit the planned exit, (the BushCheny scheme for a stealth permanent presence foiled, if not forever, at least for now), and Afghanistan calling its perpetual siren song to the powers of empire, it is tempting to shift the Israel/Palestine conflict to it's usual back burner...tempting, but not wise, say conditions on the ground. For which reason, I anxiously await first indicators as the Obama team defines its position within the peace process.

Along with the rest of the world, I'm still learning about the new president. I received both both of his books as gifts for Christmas, and I'm about half done with "Audacity of Hope." It is an encouraging read, especially as a predictor of diplomatic style. Finding common ground as a tool for moving forward is much admired and little practiced, but for Obama it seems to come naturally.

Among the shoes thrown at Obama during the election, the one widest of its mark was the drivel about sitting down with tyrants and being led like a rube to the cleaners. For the record, I'm not too worried.

However, I am worried about the current climate for a mideast peace deal, now apparently approaching near-death status, as witness Gaza today; yet another iteration of a cruel and deadly pattern. Hope is a tough sell in the neighborhood, especially after a decade of neglect, counter-pointed by malicious mischief during the BushCheney years.

It appears to many in the media that the region will welcome the return of the Commander-in-Chief from AWOL status, as President Obama and his team make their way to the table. But the rubber will hit the road when he articulates his first shift away from the worse-than-ineffective current position; as he must, if the situation is to yield to a solution. And as today's headlines demonstrate, the solution must address the problem of Hamas and a divided Palestinian leadership. Ultimately, it must go much further than that. It must address justice - and Palentine.

His strategy should, and certainly will follow a process that includes Syria, Iran and Hamas - after a fashion. He has the opportunity to take action against the power of an Hamas, not through conflict, but by by directly addressing the conditions that give populist violence it's reason for existing. It can only be done by working for justice on behalf of the people of Palestine, with the same level of commitment that the United States now brings to the security of Israel. I have faith and believe President Obama understands that successfully addressing either the peace process or the war on terror, requires a final deal on Israel/Palestine. It requires the birth of the State of Palestine. And not just a state, but a state that satisfies the requirements of justice, which for this issue, in my view calls for the Palestine of pre-1967. All of the West Bank, all of Gaza and a capital in east Jerusalem. An American policy in the region that includes both commitment to the security of Israel, and commitment to justice for the people of Palestine, is an idea whose time has not only come, but is long overdue.

The people of America and the People of Israel have shared a long history together, and the world expects this alliance to continue. No one should doubt that it will. But in addition to having a vested interest in the security of Israel, we also have a deeply vested interest in peace in the region, and elimination of the Arab/Israeli conflict as an engine of terror and violence. It is now time to recognize that in the creation of Israel an injustice was done to the people of Palestine, and the past sixty years have been an outworking of that injustice. It is further time to recognize that for all parties, strategies of violence have led to countless cruel failures at a cost in human suffering that continues to grow.

DHL