Monday, August 8, 2011

New York Times Editorial, "Palestinians and the U.N."

In an opinion piece entitled "Palestinians and the U.N." (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/opinion/palestinians-and-the-un.html?_r=1&hp), The New York Times editorial board takes the position that a vote on statehood by the United Nations in September will "further isolate both Israel and Washington" and alienate Palestinians, allowing extremists to attempt to "exploit that disaffection." The editorial begins:

"In little more than a month, the Palestinians are expected to ask the United Nations to recognize their state. We have sympathy for their yearning and their frustration. For years, they have been promised a negotiated solution — President Obama called for a peace deal by September — and they are still empty-handed."

I also have sympathy for the Palestinians' "yearning" for statehood, but am disdainful of their so-called "frustration." The New York Times ignores the fact that Israeli prime ministers Barak and Olmert offered Arafat and Abbas, respectively, statehood on the basis of the 1967 lines with land swaps as necessary, all in accordance with Obama's current guidelines, but in both instances the president of the Palestinian Authority demurred. Why? Because neither Arafat nor Abbas was ultimately willing to recognize Israel's right to exist within any boundaries whatsoever.

The New York Times editorial board continues:

"With the September deadline approaching, the Obama administration is back in the business of incremental diplomacy. The White House is working with Israel and the Quartet (the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations) on a statement setting out parameters for negotiations. The core element: a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps and guarantees for Israel’s security.

. . . .

To have any chance of inducing the Palestinians to drop their statehood bid — and finally move the peace process forward — the United States and its partners should put a map and a deal on the table, with a timeline for concluding negotiations and a formal U.N. statehood vote. The Security Council and the Arab League need to throw their full weight behind it."

The Times editorial board nowhere acknowledges that "guarantees for Israel's security" must begin with an acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist. How is this to be obtained when the Hamas charter calls for the murder of all Jews? Is Israel expected to make a separate deal with the Palestinian Authority? Given the unrest in the Arab world, is Palestinian Authority President Abbas, who recently concluded a unity deal with Hamas, currently prepared to acknowledge Israel's right to exist? No way.

Let the Palestinians acknowledge Israel's right to exist, and then let the negotiations begin. However, there is no mention of Israel's need for this fundamental building stone for peace in the Times editorial.

Israel and the US will be "isolated"? Perhaps the Times editorial board should come to terms with current US popularity in the Muslim world. A 2011 Pew Research Center survey taken before the raid which killed Osama bin Laden showed that US popularity in Pakistan had "fallen to an all-time low, with just 11 percent of Pakistanis holding a favorable view of the country and President Barack Obama" (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/19/ap/asia/main20064522.shtml).

The popularity of the US in the Arab world? According to a 2011 poll conducted by IBOPE Zogby International for the Arab American Institute Foundation in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/arab-worlds-views-of-us-president-obama-increasingly-negative-new-poll-finds/2011/07/12/gIQASzHVBI_blog.html) determined:

"In most countries surveyed, favorable attitudes toward the United States dropped to levels lower than they were during the last year of the Bush administration. The killing of Osama bin Laden also worsened attitudes toward the United States.

In Saudi Arabia, for instance, 30 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the United States (compared with 41 percent in 2009), while roughly 5 percent said the same in Egypt (compared with 30 percent in 2009)."

Or in other words, the US is already isolated in the Muslim world, and Israel will remain a pariah state beset with existential threats no matter what they do. Further isolation? Wake up and smell the coffee.

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