Gaza hides a war over the Arabs' future

[FarCenter]

The Daily Star, Lebanon, Editorial

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=98775

<snip>

This is where Israel comes in, specifically its consistent miscalculations when it comes to the Palestinians. Far from strengthening the hand of the Arab states and the Palestinian Authority, the Israelis have only ensured that Iran and the non-state Islamist actors gain strength. By systematically humiliating the Palestinian Authority and displaying little genuine willingness to follow through on territorial compromises, the Israelis have denied the Palestinians any political horizon. At this stage, talk of a negotiated solution to the Palestinian conflict seems naive. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians are capable of reaching a mutually acceptable solution to their dispute, and that pleases Hamas to no end.

Iran, and with it Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah, have also prepared a welcoming present for Barack Obama. The US president-elect once said that resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be a priority. Good luck. The Arab peace plan of 2002 lies in tatters; Mahmoud Abbas will be the Palestinian president only until late January, when what remains of his legitimacy will evaporate; and Israel is likely to vote for a right-wing government even less prepared to arrive at a deal with the Palestinians than the present government. What a wonderful new year's gift this bloody Gaza attack has been for Hamas and its partners, above all for Iran and Syria, who now have great leverage to bargain with the Obama administration.

Meanwhile the Arab states and their regimes hang on, but without offering any prospect of rejuvenation, let alone a realistic peace scheme that could tilt the new Arab cold war in their favor.


Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.

[aquart]

1. True, but.........

It fails to acknowledge the very strong reasons Palestinian factions have to ensure that negotiations fail.

And as usual, the "territorial compromises" refuse to acknowledge the partition of the Palestine Mandate, which gave the lion's share of Palestine to the Arabs. Nowhere do I see Arabs arguing that the "Palestinian" Arabs have been refused a share of THAT land. Whatever became of it, btw?