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I applaud President Obama for taking a bold stance and clearly defining the new US policy in the Middle East. The US has now set the bar high. If the Israelis don’t accept the 1967 border issue, that is fine. But at least they now have to come back to the table with a proposal that (hopefully) will be more worthwhile and realistic than before where the Israelis were very much content with the status quo. And that’s where I have problem with Israel. It really does not matter to them that millions of Palestinian people, generations in fact, are suffering day in, day out, living oppressed lives, most of their movements controlled by the Israeli military. Life in Tel Aviv and other cities with all the basic amenities are just dandy. So, as long as Israel can maintain the status quo, it is just fine with them. Over the years, the Israeli government has become very good at controlling the Palestinians and as long as they can keep the conflict about lands and settlement issues at low intensity and keep business as usual, Israel is happy. As far as Israel is concerned, there is no real reason or benefit to having a two-state solution. Most Israelis were quite content with the way things were until January 2011.
Fall of Mubarak put a big dent to the status quo and made many Israelis pause and think about the situation at hand who had over the years become oblivious to the reality and the underlying conflict.
To be fair, I put only 50% of the blame on Israel for the Israel-Palestinian conflict. I put the other half of the blame on the Arab governments who never fail to do lip service in support of the palestinian cause and show to their citizens that they working hard to support their fellow muslims by regularly sending envoys to various meetings and negotiations. In reality, these Arab governments only care about themselves and how to cling on to power (with American help of course). Here are few examples: most people in Jordan are of Palestinian origin yet the Kingdom is ruled by the Hashemites. If the Palestinians get their own state as part of a two-state solution, it would cause the Hashemites to loose their power base and control of their citizens in Jordan. So, Jordan’s government is not too keen on having a Palestinian state. And the so called Arab spring has given the Jordanian Kingdom and many others in the region a severe heart attack.
As for Saudi Arabia, they certainly have the means (money, military) to be an active participant in seeing a realistic resolution to the conflict but seem to be resigned toward protecting the House of Saud from the likes of Osama bin Laden, keep the Iranians in check and maintain their own status quo. Mubarak era’s Egypt is another example where the government didn’t care about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and now we are learning that all these years, Mubarak had been busy stashing his billions, multi-million of which I am sure came from his well wishers in Israel to keep things running as is.
As for America’s multi-billon dollar support to Israel, I read recently somewhere that in the post Mubarak era, Israel is requesting more US financial support, from the current level of 3 billion a year to something close to 20 billion. I know where I stand on this issue but I wonder how most of America feel about spending billions (their tax dollars) for Israel. If a referendum was arranged on US support for Israel, I wonder what the results would be like. Israel has the second most powerful lobby in Congress. So funding increase of Israel is very likely and the administration stepping back from the just announced 1967 border policy is very likely as well.
Anyway, I would like to conclude by writing that I am 37 years old and I hope I live to see a viable resolution the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Salam.
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