Why Go Joe?
by Ghassan Abdallah, Ph.D.
March 16, 2010
The Israeli government’s announcement of plans to build 1600 housing units in east Jerusalem while Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the country is being dubbed by the pundits as a “slap in the face,” an “insult,” and an “embarrassing diplomatic spat.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to vent American frustration at the announcement to expand Jewish settlements, an announcement that rained on Joe Biden’s Middle East parade. Secretary Clinton told CNN “the announcement of the settlements on the very day that the vice president was there was insulting.”
With all due respect to Secretary Clinton and other American officials who feel insulted by the Israelis, they have no one to blame but themselves. The question that should be asked is not why the Israelis slapped Joe Biden in the face but why did Joe Biden travel to Israel to begin with? If Joe Biden was slapped in the face or insulted then he got exactly what he deserves. What do Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Barak Obama expect? It is not as if the Israelis had never done this sort of thing before. The Israeli Housing Ministry has a history of timing such announcements to coincide with high profile American visits– just ask Madeleine Albright, James baker, Warren Christopher, or Collin Powell. Over the last few decades many American special envoys, secretary of states, vice presidents, and even presidents have made the customary visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories only to return to Washington empty handed. Failure has been the outcome of the successive efforts of various American diplomats who have tried to broker a lasting or a permanent peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians. Yes the United States is a superpower but there are limits to what America can do. America can provide political support or organize an international donor conference for financial support for the parties involved, but America cannot make them make peace. Time and time again both the Palestinians and Israelis have engaged in irrational self destructive behavior choosing conflict over peace.
WHY FIGHT NATURE
Some of you may be familiar with the fable of the scorpion and the frog, but for those who are not, here it goes. A scorpion and a frog are on one side of the river attempting to cross to the other side. The scorpion who cannot swim asks the frog to carry him across to the other side. The frog says to the scorpion “I will not carry you across the river because you will sting me.” The scorpion replies “I will not sting you because if I did you would die and sink and since I cannot swim I will die and sink as well.” The frog agrees to carry the scorpion to the other side; nevertheless in mid-river the scorpion stings the frog. The frog looks at the scorpion in disbelief and says “now we are both doomed, I will die because of your sting and so will you because you cannot swim and will certainly drown– so why did you sting me?” The scorpion answers “I cannot help it is my nature.”
The United States, the so called quartet comprised of the U.S., European Union, United Nations, and Russia, and the other so called honest brokers such as China and Japan are all fighting nature. And so we go back to the original question– why go Joe? What is the objective of traveling to Israel? Could it be that Joe is naïve and does not know better? That is doubtful– Joe must surely know the history of the conflict, Joe must have surely known of the fate of those who have gone before him, he must have known he was on a mission impossible destined to fail. Then if he did know, why did he go? Joe felt insulted and criticized the Israeli announcement to expand settlements on one day, but then praised Israel on the following day. Wrapping up his visit with a speech at a university in Tel Aviv, Biden praised U.S-Israeli relations, saying that America had a “no better friend” than Israel. Do American policymakers not realize that when they engage in such trips or missions it is not only their reputation and credibility that is on the line, but the prestige of the United States. Just don’t go– not traveling to Israel is an option, doing nothing is an option, and when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict doing nothing is often the preferable option.
GIBBERISH GIBBERIH EVERYWHERE
The various Middle East peace-making trips by American, European, and UN officials have turned into a total joke. Even more hilarious are the statements coming out of the White House, Department of State, the UN, and the Quartet. Here is a little sample below:
“We ultimately want to see the parties in dialogue as quickly as possible.”
Dep. of State spokesperson- PJ Crowely
“We want to see the parties move from proximity talks to direct talks.”
White House spokesperson- Robert Gibbs
“We want to build trust and have the peace process move forward.”
White House spokesperson- Robert Gibbs.
“The quartet has long urged the Israelis and the Palestinians not to take any steps that could hinder peace talks.”–The Quartet
“The Quartet has agreed to closely monitor developments in Jerusalem and keep under consideration additional steps that may be required to address the situation on the ground.”– The Quartet.
“We want to see the peace process move forward.” What does that mean exactly? “We are monitoring developments in Jerusalem.” Now that’s a good one. Why can’t the politicians and the pundits in the mainstream media just tell the truth? Tell the American people the truth; tell the Israelis and Palestinians the truth. It would be refreshing to cut the nonsense and tell it like it is. No need for redundant Middle East peace-making trips and no need for Gibberish. If the Palestinians and Israelis want to make peace here is what they have to do.
1- Israel must stop all settlement activity granting the Palestinians a viable state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s boundaries could be expanded, allowing both parties to claim it as their capital.
2-The Palestinians including and especially Hamas must recognize Israel’s right to exist and denounce and stop all suicide attacks, rocket attacks, and all other acts of violence against Israelis everywhere.
3-The Palestinians and other Arab states must give up the right of return of refugees. Palestinian refugees must be compensated financially and resettled elsewhere in Arab and non-Arab states.
It is that simple– that is the price of peace. If the Israelis and Palestinians are willing to agree to the compromises stated above then there will be peace. If they ever do then they can call the White House and Joe will be more than happy to host the signing ceremony. Otherwise don’t bother.
For more political realism related to Middle East peace-making–See “Middle East Peace Likely to remain Elusive” (March 2009).
� 2010 Ghassan Abdallah, PhD
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