There’s a reason they call it a conflict

The take away point, I suspect, is that neither party to this conflict really wants peace. Actually, I think they might want a war. It’s not entirely clear to me why they would want a war, it’s just the conclusion I reach when I see both sides to a dispute react to provocation with more provocation.

Public Discourse in Long Standing Conflicts

Courtesy of the Daily Beast & Getty Images

Much has been said over the course of this week about President Obama’s recent speech on the affairs and future of the Middle East.  As with any such presentation, many in the world of political media have gone to great length arguing the minutia of the speech’s content and reading into conspicuous absences among those subjects not touched on.  Despite the noteworthy weight of the President’s words on the future of the region and the commitments the US intends to make toward aiding economic and governmental development, one subject has stood out among the rest.
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Talk amongst yourselves

Tom Friedman is ready to throw in the towel on US efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

I understand the problem: Israeli and Palestinian leaders cannot end the conflict between each other without having a civil war within their respective communities. Netanyahu would have to take on the settlers and Abbas would have to take on Hamas and the Fatah radicals. Both men have silent majorities that would back them if they did, but neither man feels so uncomfortable with his present situation to risk that civil war inside to make peace outside…

The most valuable thing that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could do now is just get out of the picture – so both leaders and both peoples have an unimpeded view of their horrible future together in one state, if they can’t separate…

America must get out of the way so Israelis and Palestinians can see clearly, without any obstructions, what reckless choices their leaders are making. Make no mistake, I am for the most active U.S. mediation effort possible to promote peace, but the initiative has to come from them.

Man’s got a point.

A good picture of the occupation

Haaretz patiently explains the problem with the picture:

Eden Aberjil doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. The former soldier sees nothing wrong with posting photos on her Facebook profile showing her posing, grinning and amused, alongside blindfolded Palestinian detainees. “The pictures reflect the military experience,” she told Army Radio this week of her online photo album, entitled “The army: the best time of my life.”…

Aberjil’s “experience” is reflective of a culture that has taken root over the course of decades of occupation, one which perceives Palestinian prisoners as subhuman…

The humiliation of Palestinian detainees must not be remembered as the “best time” of any soldier’s army experience.

It’s a sad comment on Israeli society that the newspaper needed make this point.

Occupational hazards

In my opinion, the pictures were insensitive and it saddens me quite a bit that the young woman doesn’t understand why people are so angry at her. To me, the comments to the article are the really scary part.