US 'open' to Israel borders plan

[cal04]

The US secretary of state says she may be ready to back the unilateralist policy of the Kadima party which won Israeli elections this week. Condoleezza Rice did not rule out the possibility Israel might define its own borders in the absence of a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.

"Of course everyone would like to see a negotiated solution," Ms Rice added. But she said that the problem lay with the Palestinians who had elected a government which opposed negotiations.

Ms Rice was speaking to reporters travelling with her to Berlin for talks about Iran's nuclear programme.
Kadima will be the largest party in the next Knesset, although it will need at least two coalition partners to get a parliamentary majority.

Efforts to form a coalition will begin officially on Sunday, when the largely-ceremonial president will chair the first formal negotiations.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4860340.stm

[Behind the Aegis]

1. I don't see a problem.

I hate to ever agree with the current administration, but...barring any real negotiations, what else is there?

[leveymg]

2. Return to status quo ante bellum

in accord with int'l law. Like that's going to happen!

[mallard]

3. Re: As concerns Israel's land claims...

... it's not really a partisan or administration vs anyone else issue, since Israel is assumed by the vast majority of our elected officials to have a virtual carte blanche to take whatever land they choose and those who might disagree know what trouble it can get them into for speaking up, nevermind the campaign contribution losses. Objections will be delegated to lesser editorial opinion columns, all despite the otherwise obvious lack of balance over how such decisions should be made to promote a more reasonable outcome than simply factoring the other parties out of the equation - for the umpteenth time - only to find out later there are still those among them radicalized by these efforts to cancel their own valid claims to their own property.

But maybe this time they can be more successfully forgotten, you might suppose.

In any case, you don't need to worry about seeming like a Bush administration backer or a Liebermanesque quasi-Republican just because you agree with by-passing consultations with the Palestinians and Syrians over the permanent confiscation of their lands.

The important thing about not seeing a problem when there really is a huge one, however, is that people eventually learn who can or cannot be trusted to actually resolve this category of conflict, aside from lobbied-for favoritism, that they can see self-interest motives for what they are, and se how a government influenced by foreign-interest brokers won't be a fair arbiter of those same brokers' domain claims.

It sounds like a "Mission Accomplished!" type of declaration.

[adriennui]

4. to the victor go the spoils

israel has valid claims on the land. they were acquired as a result of war.

israel can't negotiate with itself.

[leveymg]

5. The thing that's been spoiled is Israel's legitimacy in the eyes of the

American people and the world.

I speak as someone who used to believe the propaganda about poor, little Israel -- those nice European-looking people wearing sunhats, carrying shovels as they made the desert bloom -- surrounded by wild savages.

Guess who dispelled me of that notion? Ariel Sharon and the rest of the Likud thugs.

[sugapablo]

6. That's like...

...equating you, as a US citizen, with the thoughts and actions of George W. Bush and the rest of his GOP thugs.

I guess if enough years pass, history will be forgotten and Tibetans will be considered occupiers of Chinese land should they ever forcefully retake their ancestral and religious homeland. :)

[leveymg]

7. Sadly, that's exactly what's happening around the world. Americans are

being viewed as accomplices to war crimes, as occurred during the Vietnam War. Same thing with Israelis. The Germans also have a lasting taint. Unfortunately, most people don't appreciate the cross-cutting differences.

[adriennui]

8. your tone is a bit unforgiving

there are 2 sides, you've been bamboozled by israel's neighbors who never wanted to see her survive.

jews learned a very sad lesson (thank hitler for that), never again will jews be passive and not fight for themselves in spite of the world being more accepting of the weak, helpless jewish stereotype. it's a nasty world.

[leveymg]

9. "It's a nasty world" doesn't excuse everything

Like most Americans, I do try to be fair-minded about the Middle East. If anything, my skepticism is deeper about the statements that come from the other parties to this dispute. I doubt very much that I've been bamboozled by Israel's neighbors.

Nobody believes that "weak, helpless jewish (sic)" stereotype, you describe. The problem is that the overuse and abuse of power and influence inevitably leads to its loss. Hubris. As recent events have demonstrated, neither the United States nor Israel is immune.

If I sound a bit unforgiving, it's nothing compared with those in the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence services after Plamegate and the OSP-AIPAC spy scandals. The terms of Israel's contract with America won't be nearly as generous and open-ended as it was before. You can thank Ariel and his Right-wing friends in the Israeli military and intel services for that.

[adriennui]

12. and won't you be happy about that turn of events

i am jewish, i am progressive but the world is a big unforgiving place...14 million jews, a sliver of land.

why the obsession with israel's "wrongs".

does darfur ring any bells? slaughter of opposition algerians? enslavement of animist blacks by muslim arabs in africa? that's genocide. syrian slaughter of 10 thousand citizens under assad? lack of chinese civil rights? caste system in india with the untouchables being treated like shit? the subjugation of indigenous people in mexico and central america? where is the outrage? and i'm not going to get into the religous atrocities.

seems the world turns a blind eye when it's anyone but israel. and don't tell me i'm changing the subjest....this is the subject. the f--king double standard.

[Rex]

10. Rice is full of shit, as usual.

"Of course everyone would like to see a negotiated solution," Ms Rice added.

Bullshit, Rice is anything BUT for peace and prosperity. She makes a profit every time we sell a weapon or pump gas into the ol' SUV.

[David__77]

11. No one will recognize these borders, except the US. Nor should they.

This is no different than if they simply annexed all the occupied territories. There will be few Palestinian quislings who would recognize such borders as valid, and they would not last long. The world will not recognize a unilateral annexation of parts of the occupied territories--won't happen...

Furthermore, it won't save Israel from continued intifada, including among its Palestinian citizens.