51st: News from elsewhere, AFP
“WASHINGTON — The United States, a veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council member, will use “the tools that we have” to block a resolution condemning Israeli settlements, a top US diplomat said Thursday.” AFP Report That is Agence France Presse; anyone seen mention of this in a U.S. media outlet?
MJ Rosenberg comments: ”The settlement issue should be an easy one for the United States. Our official policy is the same as that of the Arab world. We oppose settlements. We consider them illegal. We have repeatedly demanded that the Israelis stop expanding them (although the Israeli government repeatedly ignores us). The administration feels so strongly about settlements that it recently offered Israel an extra $3.5 billion in U.S. aid to freeze settlements for 90 days. It is impossible, then, for the United States to pretend that we do not agree with the resolution (especially when its language was carefully drafted to comport with the administration’s official position).”
In case you missed Bernard Avishai’s piece in the Sunday NYTimes magazine: “A Plan for Peace That Still Could Be.” Former PM Olmert and President Abbas look at their intense negotiations before Olmert left office. There may be a bit of wishful remembrance here, but it shows that it is not so much the issues that divide the Israelis and Palestinians as the politics.
There are times that the mind absolutely boggles!
Someday, way off in the distant future, we may actually find out things about our country like, ‘who really shot JFK and why’, ‘why don’t our representatives in DC actually represent us’, and the biggest mystery of them all, “who is really running the USA?’.
We know that Big Pharma, Big Oil, Big Insurance, Big Military Contractors, Big Banking and other large mega-corporations use their lobbyists and LOTS of money to buy whatever vote they want. But behind all of them, there’s got to be some even BIGGER entity; there is absolutely no other way to explain why the US does lots of the things it does and ignores lots of things it ought to do.
Unfortunately, the US population is coddled just enough that they’d never do what the population of Egypt has just succeeded in doing – throwing off the yoke of an oppressive and non-representive government.
And the religious right is manipulated by these same powers to engage in smokescreen activities while they get away with manipulating an entire nation. Is it greed, or simply a hunger for power?
Hope we all sleep well at night, nodding, soporific over the evening news, perfectly content to not know.
It’s really a pity, the American people could do such wonderful things… where’s Teddy R. when you need him?
This Israeli tail wagging the United States dog is getting old.
Wake up, Washington!
Do the right thing!
Tell Netanyahu to get lost!!!
I know it seems simple-minded, but write to Clinton and say this will not do. U.S. State dept. has a tab that says e-mail us. Please do e-mail them and calmly say if the AFP story is accurate you protest our policy on the UN vote.
How splendid to see Washington once again acting as “honest broker” in the Middle East. No wonder that the term was invented by none other than Bismarck (Berlin Conference, 1878). And no doubt the brokers (and others) who helped bring down the world economy in 2008 also thought of themselves as “honest.”
If I had more time and knowledge, I would like to write up a hypothetical looking at the times WHEN it would have been the moment for Israelis and Palestinians to cut a deal. With Jordan and Egypt as “peaceful” neighbors why wasn’t that a good time? Now, of course, when Egypt is in transition it isn’t a good time, but why not, before somebody decides to rewrite the peace deal, or to open the border with Gaza? It seems that there has never been a better time than the moment that was current at the time!
Margaret, I fear that the strong Israeli Lobby in DC trumps any type of real solution that comes down the pike.
Until such time as our elected representatives stop cowering in fear of reprisals, the US will never apply appropriate pressure.
But, we are not alone. Has the EU, the AU, the OAS, or the UN stood up and made any statements that matter about Israel?
Maybe all of Congess should have Commonweal as required reading! I have read, time and time again, as those of you who are ‘in the know’ about the whole problem offer good solution after good solution about how to proceed..
B16 left a wonderful and impassioned prayer in the wailing wall, maybe not enought of the right people are praying with him.
God only knows what the solution will be – and as long as His/Her hands are in it, it should be a good and permanent solution.
We can only pray!
Prayer is necessary, but not sufficient. Write your Senator, your Congressperson, your Secretary of State. Until they start hearing something other, they will not know that the tide is shifting.