The Daily Clarity

Israel-Palestine…is peace still possible?

Regardless of which side of the vast ideological divide you stand, despite where you lay blame or offer support, there is a certain irony to the celebration of Israel’s 61st birthday. In one sense, it is a landmark in a bitter fought struggle for the tribal survival of a people much abused. It also marks another year of a Palestine dispossessed. Perhaps, most importantly it marks yet another anniversary of the failure of Israel and Palestine to reach a peace settlement. Yet another year lost to death, mindless retributions, ethno-religious and territorial violence on both sides. Sixty plus years on, Israel and Palestine are seeking to rejoin an peace process, not nearing a solution, but merely looking to reengage in negotiation. That is poor progress for 61 years of acrimonious and often vindictive co-existence, and a sad reflection on decades of supposed US diplomacy.

Palestine stands divided – geographically, politically, spiritually, and in governance. The rockets, though now sporadic, still fall on Israeli soil, in an act of resistance that seems wearied and rote.  Israel is in no better health. It  has built walls around itself to create ‘Fortress Israel’ while at the same time still building settlements in the West Bank  and bulldozing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, as if in a gesture of perverse defiance. The chance for peaceful resolution seems to drift further and further away with each day’s passing.  It is hard to identify any elements of success in this conflict, even 61 years on from the creation of the state of Israel. Hilary Clinton could have better directed the reset button message she gave to Russia toward Israel and Palestine.

It is increasingly apparent that Israel and Palestine left to their own devices will never achieve peace, or at least, in the foreseeable future. In a cruel and twisted way, Israel and Palestine have grown corruptly codependent. Israel relies on the ever present specter of the the Palestinian enemy to define its very existence. Its existential angst about its future, and its predilection for military action based on the Palestinian enemy next door. Conversely, Palestine manipulates the colonial oppression that Israel represents to bind its people against a common foe. Palestine itself, in essence a community divided by the sheer physicality of the Israeli nation, has splintered into two factions.  The ideal of a Palestinian state  daily fractured more deeply by the burgeoning Israeli settlements and the encircling of Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Israel,  having overstepped the mark in the recent Gaza misadventure, feels the brooding anger and resentment of its neighbors. It feels the potential threat of a nuclear Iran. It feels a nation besieged, which, oddly enough,  is exactly how Palestine feels too.

Israel furthered its sins, in the eyes of many observers, by electing a Netanyahu-Lieberman dominated Knesset,  potentially ushering in policies distasteful to other regional powers, and many in the broader  intentional community. Conversely or perhaps perversely dependent on the viewpoint, Hamas is, to many, the worst that Palestine could have elected to power in the Gaza. Both sides seem intent on lurching to the extremity of their possible political spectrum.  Israel stands in danger of demographic strangulation, as the potential of a one state future appears to be taking the place through neglect of the available two state option. Hamas still stands aloof refusing to recognize Israel to the annoyance of the international community. Israel has made this recognition, again, a precondition of further peace negotiations, asking for sovereign validation as a step towards permanent  peace. Hamas will not budge in its refusal, and this has quagmired any negotiations, and also impacted the potential for a Hamas-Fatah accord. Many Hamas supporters ask why should they legitimize an occupier , from their perspective, with official recognition when every checkpoint and fence makes Israel real to them. Regardless of the validity of either argument, this stand-off alone  places a centrist negotiated peace settlement further out of reach.

If ever there was  a  need for an intervention in the dysfunctional Israel-Palestine relationship, it is now.  The Arab nations are asking Israel to come to the negotiating table, and offering much broader recognition of  the state of Israel as a reward. The Muslim powers intimate they may also be able to intercede with Hamas and Fatah, to bridge the divide, and bring a unified Palestine to the table for a final settlement negotiation. However, despite the encouragements of Syria, Jordon, Turkey, Egypt  and the other parties keen for a end to 61 years of armed struggle, there is a need for one additional catalyst. Israel and Palestine cannot do this alone. They lack a perspective or a collective will for resolution Regional demand for the need for a solution now, creates a receptive geopolitical landscape, but is not enough of an incentive in and of itself.

In this moment in history, only the US can be the peace maker. The US, perhaps and finally, has enough of a world class  diplomat at the helm to act as the long-desired honest broker.  However in a sad twist of history, this chance for Israel-Palestine peace coincides with a period where the US itself is besieged by economic crisis, a potential pandemic, wars,  and the incessant critical whining and yapping of its extreme right as distraction. It would be a great loss if this moment was lost to the vagaries and demand for temporary political popularity.

The quotation used recently in Australia as part of its apology to its indigenous people for the stolen generation resonates:

There are moments in the lives of nations where hope and history rhyme. Now’s one of those times.

Let’s close the gap, and if we truly mean it, we can stare down our future and find we can see through those eyes. Let us not stand with those who deny.

This is the time for Israel and Palestine when such a moment for peace could exist, but it appears that this only if they are dragged kicking and screaming to the table. They need to stand up and deal with each other, but  they are both in denial. A peace  settlement between them is inevitable,  and the constant avoidance of this reality  results in the more bloodletting and violence that marks their relationship. The rules of engagement need to be changed. Israel needs to drop its aggression, the settlements, the Jerusalem agenda,  and abuse of its security powers. Hamas and Fatah need to resolve their differences and act as one. They need to eschew the violence, deal with Israel as a sovereign state,  and negotiate for a sustainable territory and peace settlement.

The US needs to finally be an honest broker. Let its Special Envoy, Mitchell, engage with the parties who can make the deal, including Hamas. The US needs to threaten, coax and incent the parties to sue for settlement, while at the same time keeping the other regional powers at bay. It needs to create the space for Israel and Palestine to hammer out the solution. The Gaza incursions and blood shed should have proved to both sides, no military solution exists. There is no resolve for either party through armed struggle. The issue is truly existential to the identity of both parties, and both will die rather than cede. Israel must be aware of the ticking clock of the one-state threat. Palestine must be aware that each day sees its lands further lost to bulldozer and settlement. There are moments in the lives of nations where hope and history rhyme – for Israel and Palestine, under the steady hand of  an honest US broker  – now is that time, before it is lost for another 60 years.