dagblog - Comments for "Aaron David Miller and 5 Things to Look For at I-P Talks"

A tidbit regarding

Aaron Carine — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 18:19:49 +0000

In reply to Aaron David Miller and 5 Things to Look For at I-P Talks

A tidbit regarding background. Lord Caradon, one of the authors of Resolution 242, said that it didn't require a full return to the 1967 borders(or, if you prefer, "armistice lines"). He also said that changes to the boundaries had to be agreed upon by both sides, which rules out the unilateral expansion envisioned by Meier, Begin, and Shamir.

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=118&x_article=1267

Some may say that CAMERA isn't reliable, but they give a full quotation of Caradon's words. I couldn't access the interview from the online Journal of Palestine Studies.

Here's an interesting

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 07:06:02 +0000

In reply to Aaron David Miller and 5 Things to Look For at I-P Talks

Here's an interesting background article on Israeli-Palestinian talks, including Sharon's role in speaking "Likudish" while backing out of Gaza - something like "retreat softly while carrying a big stick" or "know your audience and what inspires them".

I'm very skeptical that Bibi can be a Sharon, but would love to be pleasantly surprised.

I'm most worried that with Egypt's significant turn against Hamas/Palestine and the marginalization of Fatah in representing the new generation, that any bargaining at this point will be simply to humiliate Palestinians - and that in Obama fashion, we'll be looking for a deal to call a deal, however shitty - or preferably shitty to show it's "fair"- so we get the t-shirt and press conference but leave everyone grumbling for 2 or more decades. Curiously it seems Israel's now both more intransigent but supportive of a 2-state solution, including part of East Jurasalem. But it won't take much (pro-settler?) meddling to turn the West Bank into a rather unliveable apportionment of tracts of land rather than a real defined territory to base a fledgling nation in.

It's a go, starting Monday

artappraiser — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 01:23:56 +0000

In reply to Aaron David Miller and 5 Things to Look For at I-P Talks

It's a go, starting Monday night & Tues. in Washington D.C.:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/07/20137282018946229.html

Refreshingly optimistic piece

Bruce Levine — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 21:52:58 +0000

In reply to Aaron David Miller and 5 Things to Look For at I-P Talks

Refreshingly optimistic piece (There will be peace between Israel and Palestine) by Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston:

If ever there was a time to be a fundamentalist for peace, this is the time. If ever there was a need for fanatical belief in a shared future for Palestinians and Israelis, the need is now.

The smart money is overwhelmingly betting on two states to lose. But Middle East politics has nothing to do with smart. The mind is not the organ that runs the show here, no matter how brilliant the mind. For Israelis and Palestinians alike, the brain is the servant of the heart.

That may be why there are truly two peoples here, but they don't really divide along the misleading lines of Jew vs. Arab, Palestinian vs. Israeli, right vs. left, fundamentalist vs. freethinker. The real division cuts across those lines.

From the standpoint of caring fiercely about the future of the Holy Land, there are only two kinds of people anywhere in the world:

Those who believe in the possibility of peace and those who do not.

Those who believe that the land can be de-occupied and partitioned into two states for the benefit of Israel and Palestine both; and those who believe that it cannot be partitioned, must not be partitioned, will never be partitioned.

Those who believe in settlements over peace have already begun to organize, to stand up and be counted, to devise ways to get their way even if the majority feels otherwise.

Now it’s the turn of the first group, the other fundamentalists and fanatics. The majority.

History has shown that the settlers and their allies always believe that they have much more popular support than they actually do. They also count – wrongly - on their opponents to feel powerless and slink away from the battle.

The pro-settlement group will do everything it can to brainwash, instill guilt, cajole, blackmail and otherwise persuade the rest of us to let the talks go nowhere, except down.

But there will be peace between Israel and Palestine, because people who want it will raise their voices and sign their names and pound pavements and speak with their friends – and believe.

Let it begin.

Amen to that. Happy weekend.