Faint Hope Solves Nothing
Ah, the meeting. Of supposedly like minds. There is no mistaking Egypt's and Jordan's anxiety, as border states to the Palestinian Territories, to solve the seemingly insolvable. They have no wish to enable Islamist terrorists to gain more of a foothold on their countries than already exists. Egypt has been struggling for a long time with the foul presence of the Muslim Brotherhood, which itself has spawned offshoots to bedevil the Middle East.It had been outlawed after the assassination of Anwar Sadat, then later given legal status, but its malignancy continues to fester and to encourage and join with other lethally-inspired terrorist Islamic groups. Jordan has experienced its own anguished decisions in the past, battling insurgent Palestinians whose presence in the country threatened to swamp it into divisive submission to the Palestinian 'cause'.
And both Egypt and Jordan had de facto political and military control as overseers of the Palestinian Territories before the creation of the State of Israel, and post creation, when the assembled armies of the Middle East made their bold move to eradicate the presence of Israel in the 1967 war, only to leave it strengthened and enlarged by Israel's conquest of those same assembled armies in a historic routing.
Odd how the historical reflects the current, and we come full circle. Israel, truth told, would eagerly give up oversight ('occupation') of both the West Bank and Gaza, handing them gladly back to Jordan and Egypt to assume responsibility for the territories until such time as an agreement for full peace results in the creation of the autonomous State of Palestine. Trouble is, no one wants to assume responsibility for that vipers nest.
So here we have the two countries of the Middle East that have signed peace agreements with the State of Israel, ever hopeful, doing their best to encourage, cajole, tempt, threaten the protagonists in a prolonged and bloody and frustrating stalemate to reach the point of return - to peace talks, leading to an amicably-difficult conclusion and finally a cessation of bloody conflict.
The United States is attempting to bully Israel to ease restrictions on travel, close down border check points and roadblocks and other major barriers. Israel, realistically is looking for guarantees, that perennially elusive element in the equation, that the Palestinian Authority, under Mahmoud Abbas will undertake full responsibility to control its militias.
"We want to be realistic. The security posts are a risk for us. We live in the Middle East. We can respect the ideal of democracy but we live in reality.... One suicide bombing and we're back to square one." There is also always the not unimaginable scenario that Mr. Abbas will, in the near future, return to a unity government with Hamas. Which would delight in more open borders to further enable its end-game of a vanquished and vanished Israel.
Much depends upon Mahmoud Abbas's own decision making. Hard pressed by his own Fatah brigands who enjoy the prospect of nothing more than to continue executing terrorist attacks against Israel, and who view his accommodation with the U.S. and Israel as verging on consorting with the enemy, caution becomes his byword. So, will he or won't he?
He's had ample opportunity in the past to make good on his promises to begin controlling Fatah-affiliated terrorist groups, and has accomplished nothing whatever in that regard. He talks a good line about recognizing the reality of the existence of the State of Israel, without any supporting statements to the effect that Israel has a right to existence. Some of his speeches verge on incitement to further violence on behalf of the Palestinian cause.
He's the head of a political group which has proven itself adept at milking the humanitarian funds handed over to the PA by a trusting world community for the purpose of ameliorating and assisting progress in the condition of the Palestinian refugee population. A massive clean-up is required before the PA can even begin to exert the authority required to do its duty in the governance of its affairs and that of the population it represents.
It's action that's required, not the double-ended, poison-tipped words of cagily-careful responsibility dodgers.
Labels: Human Fallibility, Middle East
posted by Pieface @ Monday, June 25, 2007
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