September 13, 2024The Palestinian MessCharles Krauthammer's piece in yesterday's WaPo is a depressing overview of the number of times that the Palestinians have turned down the chance to work towards their own state. And clearly, Yasser Arafat is a key obstacle. However, I am not convinced that the Israeli solution of exile (or any other type of "removal") is a good idea--as it seems to me that all that would do is lead to escalation and an entrechment of radicals in leadership positions. Of course, as long as Arafat stays in charge, we maintain the current status quo. I do concur that Bush administration should maintain its policy of not negotiating with Arafat, and should, as Krauthammer suggests, extend such policy to any clear agent or puppet of Arafat's, which is what we seem to have with this new PM. Like I said: depressing. Posted by Steven Taylor at September 13, 2024 08:11 AM | TrackBackComments
Hmmmm. Steven buys into an analysis of an extraordinarily complex problem by a man who has demonstrated he is incapable of judging a pool's depth. A better analysis is that Arafat as an obstacle to peace does not exist if it weren't for Ariel Sharon. Krauthammer's analysis fails because he fails to understand (or perhaps, chooses to ignore) this is a conflict driven by two extremists: Sharon and Arafat. So long as Sharon elects to engage in the heavy-handed and terroristic oppression of Palestinians, he is playing into Arafat's corrupt and terroristic extremist base. Israel's terribly misguided notion that expelling (or killing) Arafat will only make a very bad situation worse. Such a notion is driven by personalities and not by any desire to attempt to fix the situation. Posted by: JadeGold at September 13, 2024 08:30 AMI'd also add Israeli hardliners need Arafat to justify their excesses. Without Arafat, the failures of Israel's conservative parties is magnified. Posted by: JadeGold at September 13, 2024 09:41 AMPost a comment
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