wednesday march 16, 2010
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Peace for the Region

Last week's Israeli insult toward Joe Biden was an arrogant double-cross of America's efforts to bring the peace process to a successful conclusion.

The Vice-President, it is well-known, was in the region to reinforce the American commitment to the security of Israel. This re-iteration of a U. S. foreign policy that dates back to the very birth of Israeli nationhood, is so fundamental to the peace equation, that it should have been unnecessary. To speak clearly of the security of Israel is to lay the foundation for the process itself.

The attitude taken by Israel reminds me of the relationship that existed for a while during my childhood. Following a long illness, I returned to school - fit for duty though in a weakened state. My older brother out of compassion for my vulnerability, became my protector - that is, until he caught me taunting an enemy and threatening him with my brother's retribution. "You're on your own," he told me, "and if you get your ass kicked, it will be on you."

So it is today with Israel. The situation as it exists in the region today is untenable; the misery of the people of the elusive State of Palestine, is a bitter injustice, tolerated and excused for too long by an American foreign policy that guarantees the security of an Israel motivated to use this protective umbrella to subvert Palestinian statehood,  while paying lip service to the peace process.  The result is continued injustice for the Palestinians, and a march toward disaster for Israel, whose demographics doom the dream of a Zionist democracy, in the absence of the two-state solution that the justice of history demands.

The struggle over Palestine since 1948 has given rise in present time, to a state-less reign of terror directed against the so-called near and far enemies of global jihad - Israel and its' American big brother.  The American foreign policy establishment bears responsibility for this outcome, a flowering of the karma created by our uneven approach in the region resulting from our consistent tilt toward Israel.  Thus American interests in the region beyond its support for Israel, have grown to include our own security issues relating to protection of the homeland from terrorist attack, as well as our commitment to honor the aspirations of Palestinians for statehood.

To address these interests, it seems to me necessary to un-link the outcome of the peace process from the issue of Israeli security, by offering a guarantee of military protection to an emergent State of Palestine. similar to that now enjoyed by Israel.

American will always be a guarantor  of Israeli security; this responsibility will remain sacrosanct.  Though some may be prone to attribute American support for Israel to effective Israeli lobbyists, I would contend that the true source of American support for Israel is written first in the American heart, and only incidentally by Jewish politicians and lobbyists.

An important point, given the next point I need to make. It is often true that only a very stern older brother can make the call when the perfidy of a younger sibling puts the community at risk. The solution in this case lies not in the abandonment of Israel, but in the inclusion of Palestine within the military protection of the United States, and the United Nations.

The time has come to recognize that the problem in the middle-east, is not just a regional conflict. The linkage between Palestine radicalism and the terrorist network of global jihad is that of an infection to a physical injury. Both must be treated. The imbalance of power created by the American presence in the region, with it's persistent tilt toward Israel, allows both the original wound and the resulting infection to go untreated. Israel must be confronted with the reality of the American stake in peace, and with the unwillingness of the American establishment to be held hostage to Israeli hegemony in negotiating an emergent Palestinian state.

DHL