John Kerry must be ecstatic today. The Israelis and the Palestinians are talking in Washington about how to move forward with further talks about the peace process. That's right, the talks are not about peace; they are talks about having more talks. For Kerry, however, this is his ticket to a Nobel Peace Prize. In truth, however, this is much ado about nothing.
The talks proceed in what is perhaps the most stilted atmosphere imaginable. President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority cannot make peace. He has no legitimate claim to authority. His term in office expired five years ago, but he remains in place on an emergency basis. The emergency is that he know that his party, the Fatah, would lose if another election were held. The main opposition is Hamas which rules in Gaza after a short but bloody conflict that ousted all of Fatah from the government in that area. Hamas is stridently anti-peace, and Abbas knows that if he were to make peace with the Israelis, he would inevitably be assassinated by Hamas or its allies. As a result, Abbas says things like his comments yesterday to the Egyptian press in which he announced that his goal was the removal of all Israelis from Palestinian lands. To clarify what Abbas said, one needs to understand that for Abbas, "Palestinian lands" include all of what is now Israel. In other words, Abbas' says his goal is the removal of all Jews from Israel. To put it mildly, that is not exactly a good way to approach peace talks.
Someone in Washington ought to realize that the only way there could ever be movement towards peace would be to isolate, weaken and eventually destroy Hamas. There is an opportunity to do that now since the new government of the Egyptian military forces consider Hamas part of the Moslem Brotherhood that they just removed from power in their country. Hamas is also supporting the rebels in Syria, so it has lost the patronage of Iran which backs Assad. By itself now for the first time in a while, Hamas in Gaza could crumble if appropriate pressure were applied. That would require a carefully coordinated plan, however, and Kerry and his cronies at State don't even seem interested in considering such a move. After all, there would be no television cameras and no glory in that move; it would just be of enormous benefit to the United States and the cause of peace. So we have just another missed opportunity.
The talks proceed in what is perhaps the most stilted atmosphere imaginable. President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority cannot make peace. He has no legitimate claim to authority. His term in office expired five years ago, but he remains in place on an emergency basis. The emergency is that he know that his party, the Fatah, would lose if another election were held. The main opposition is Hamas which rules in Gaza after a short but bloody conflict that ousted all of Fatah from the government in that area. Hamas is stridently anti-peace, and Abbas knows that if he were to make peace with the Israelis, he would inevitably be assassinated by Hamas or its allies. As a result, Abbas says things like his comments yesterday to the Egyptian press in which he announced that his goal was the removal of all Israelis from Palestinian lands. To clarify what Abbas said, one needs to understand that for Abbas, "Palestinian lands" include all of what is now Israel. In other words, Abbas' says his goal is the removal of all Jews from Israel. To put it mildly, that is not exactly a good way to approach peace talks.
Someone in Washington ought to realize that the only way there could ever be movement towards peace would be to isolate, weaken and eventually destroy Hamas. There is an opportunity to do that now since the new government of the Egyptian military forces consider Hamas part of the Moslem Brotherhood that they just removed from power in their country. Hamas is also supporting the rebels in Syria, so it has lost the patronage of Iran which backs Assad. By itself now for the first time in a while, Hamas in Gaza could crumble if appropriate pressure were applied. That would require a carefully coordinated plan, however, and Kerry and his cronies at State don't even seem interested in considering such a move. After all, there would be no television cameras and no glory in that move; it would just be of enormous benefit to the United States and the cause of peace. So we have just another missed opportunity.
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