Gulf News
George S. Hishmeh
Prominent voices insist the window of a two-state solution continues to narrow as successive US administrations blindly condone Tel Aviv's actions
It was fortuitous that three prominent Americans spoke within days of each other to full-house audiences at three different think-tanks in Washington, blasting Israeli policies and the blatant favouritism of American administrations towards Israel and a failure to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, now in its 64th year. Shockingly, US media neglected the harsh criticism voiced within a mile’s radius of the White House.
The prominent American speakers were James A. Baker III, secretary of state during the Reagan administration (1989-1992); Chas W. Freeman, Jr., a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia and President Barack Obama’s nominee as chairman of the powerful National Intelligence Council, but whose abrupt withdrawal from his appointment, in the view of Politico, “show[ed] Obama’s reluctance to signal a change to US policy in the Middle East that centres on standing beside Israel;” and Dr John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago and co-author of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, a New York Times best-seller.
Speaking at the US Institute of Peace, Baker noted that the Arab Spring has “the potential to rearrange the political and social landscape in the Middle East in unpredictable ways”. But in the short-term, he cautioned, it may be quite problematic, making it harder for Arab leaders to engage in peace talks with Israel. However, in the future, the Arab Spring should “benefit the region, particularly if it leads to the spread of democracy, human rights, economic stability and social justice”.
About the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the former secretary said, “we are far from agreement” although the general outline of a two-state solution is “relatively” clear. “The peace process may not be dead,” he observed, “but it is clearly on life-support.”
Leadership and will
Here, he took a shot at the US for the lack of both “leadership and will” vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue, which he pointed out, has been the case in both the Republican and Democratic administrations.
“The window for a two-state solution continues to narrow,” Baker warned, “as [Israeli] colonists keep moving in the Occupied Territories”. He stressed the need “to kickstart the peace process before time runs out [because] with each new colonist, it becomes harder for the Israeli government to make the compromise needed for peace”.
About the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the former secretary said, “we are far from agreement” although the general outline of a two-state solution is “relatively” clear. “The peace process may not be dead,” he observed, “but it is clearly on life-support.”
Here, he took a shot at the US for the lack of both “leadership and will” vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue, which he pointed out, has been the case in both the Republican and Democratic administrations.
“The window for a two-state solution continues to narrow,” Baker warned, “as [Israeli] colonists keep moving in the Occupied Territories”. He stressed the need “to kickstart the peace process before time runs out [because] with each new colonist, it becomes harder for the Israeli government to make the compromise needed for peace”.
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