According to the BBC:
“Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will aim to reach a “final status” agreement over the next nine months to end their long conflict, the US secretary of state has said. John Kerry said another meeting between the two sides would be held in either Israel or the Palestinian territories in the next two weeks. This, he said, would begin the process of formal negotiations. Mr Kerry said “all issues” would be on the table for discussion. “They are on the table with one simple goal: a view to ending the conflict, ending the claims.”
Over the past 20 years we heard the same grand declarations over and over and over again. Remember the Madrid Conference (1991)? The Oslo Accords (1993)? The Camp David Summit (2000)? The Taba Summit (2001)? The Road Map For Peace (2002)? The Arab Peace Initiative (2002-2007)? They *all* failed, none of them yielded any tangible result. So why would anybody put any hope at all in the latest “final” talks?! What, if anything, has changed recently?
Actually, something did change: the Palestinian leadership in essence committed a “strategic suicide” when it decided to side with the USA and Israel and against Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. This betrayal of those who for years supported the Palestinian struggle at great cost for themselves will go down in history as an act of truly unparalleled infamy. It was also just about the dumbest thing the Palestinians could have done. Sure, siding with Saddam Hussein in 1991 was dumb enough, but to side with the US, Israel and the Gulf Fat Cats who have been financing the war against Syria will also go down in history as an act of truly unparalleled stupidity.
Abba Eban supposedly once said “the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”. He might have been understating the problem. It appears to me that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to make the wrong choice and side with the wrong party. As a result, all the current Palestinian organizations, with the notable exception of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (IJMP), have now become puppets in the hands of the Zionists. This is why the US is now feeling that the time has come to try to obtain some kind of “final agreement”: the Palestinians have *already* comprehensively surrendered to the Zionists.
So what could happen at these negotiations?
Well, let’s first look at what will not happen. What will not happen is the creation of two states separated by the 1967 borders. The main reason why this will not happen is not even that the Israelis have exactly *zero* incentive to make any concessions, the main reason why this will not happen is simply because it is impossible. Physically impossible. Impossible because the West Bank is not full of Israeli enclaves which have permeated it like metastasized cancer invades an organ. No country can be made of many small parts separated by highways, concertina wires, many small walls and one big Wall. At this point in time, the various chunks of territory which would be left to the Palestinians would not even be worthy of being called Bantustans. You think I am exaggerating? Check out this map and see for yourself:
But it’s not just the Zionists metastasizes which make a Palestinian state impossible. Even if the Jews withdrew from the West Bank (which they won’t), they would give it exactly the same degree of “independence” as what they gave to Gaza: zero. Didn’t do them much good in Gaza, but they would also attempt to “remote control” the West Bank from outside.
Furthermore, in order to reach a settlement, the two parties would have to engage in lengthy negotiations on each of the crucial points. However, it is no great secret that you do never want to negotiate from a position of weakness. And yet, once these negotiations will begin, the Palestinians will be negotiating not from a position of weakness, but from a position of irrelevance. Yes, that’s right. The Palestinians have made themselves irrelevant. Think for yourself: what kind of arguments could the Palestinians bring to the table? What promise? What concession? What implied threat? That’s right: nothing.
At this point in time both Fatah and Hamas are de-facto controlled financially by the Gulf States and politically by the USA. Worse, Abbas – who is supposed to represent the Palestinian people – has *zero* legitimacy (his mandate has long expired). Egypt, which had the potential of being a crucial ally for the Palestinians is busy sliding into a civil war in which both sides are skillfully manipulated by the same Gulf States and the USA. Kind Abdullah II of Jordan is a total US lackey and nobody in the wider Arab or Muslim world will do anything meaningful to help the Palestinians. As for those who could have meaningfully support the Palestinians (Iran, Syria and Hezbollah), the Palestinians have back-stabbed them (I think of Hezbollah and Iranian trained Palestinian units fighting on the side of al-Qaeda/al-Nusra in Syria).
Sure, Iran and, to a lesser extend, Syria and Hezbollah will continue to provide some forms of help to the Palestinians, if only because they support the Palestinian people themselves. I suppose that they will try to get most of that aid to the IJMP, but at least at this moment in time, the IJMP is too small and still too weak to really make a difference. Besides, by virtue of not being a puppet of the US CIA the IJMP is also not an acceptable “partner” for any US sponsored “negotiations” (the Americans only negotiate with their own puppets, hence all the “pre-conditions” to any US sponsored/approved “negotiations”).
So what will the upcoming “negotiations” be about?
They will be about how much Abbas can overtly give up without triggering an insurrection by his own people. This is really crucial: as long as Abbas can pretend to be negotiating for some kind “final settlement” with the Israelis, and as long as the details of this final settlement remains amorphous, the Palestinian elites can continue pretending like there is something to be gained by negotiating. But if Abbas openly and comprehensively caves in to Israeli demands, then the corrupt and wealthy elites of Ramallah and Nablus will risk facing a popular revolt. So keeping up the fiction of negotiations is crucial to maintain the current Palestinian power structure in power.
What about the Israelis, what do they want?
Basically, they want all the land, just enough Palestinians to serve as a cheap work force (slaves), and enough Gulf money to pay the Palestinians to shut up and not cause any further trouble. Most of that, they already have. What they don’t have and still want is some kind of international recognition and acceptance of the current situation: just like nobody seriously pesters US diplomats or businessmen with the fate of Native Americans (Indians), the Israelis don’t want to be constantly pestered about the Palestinian issue. What they want is just turn the page and let’s get on with business as usual.
Needless to say, the Israelis probably understand that the Palestinian people will not just vanish into thin air with a “pop!” nor will they all agree to live in exile. They probably suspect that by the time they realize that their own elites sold them out to the Israelis, there will be some kind of reaction, probably a violent one. But when that happens, the Israelis will be able to wave the “final” agreements of 2013 or 2014 and say that “all parties”, including “all” the Palestinian factions (except, o f course, for the ones labeled as “terrorists” such as the IJMP), the Quartet on the Middle-East, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation had accepted this *final* agreement that there was nothing left to negotiate. At which point they will unleash the usual Jewish bloodbath against the resisting Palestinians but, this time, with the blessing of the so-called “international community”. From the Israeli point of view, any “final” agreement will thus be a license to kill.
Again, it did not have to be that way. Some Fatah factions and Hamas definitely had the potential of turning into a meaningful resistance against the Zionist occupation of Palestine. Sadly, however, the Palestinians did it to themselves by their betrayal of the other members of the Resistance. Now there will be A LOT of very bad “karma” to pay for that betrayal.
Does that mean that the future has not hope for the Palestinian people? Maybe, but not necessarily.
The good news for the Palestinians is that their current “enemies” – Iran, Syria and Hezbollah – are going nowhere and, in fact, there is a very good chance that the Syrian government will prevail in the current war. Such a “victory”, even if relative, will immensely strengthen Syria and Hezbollah and it will further strengthen the international position of Iran and even Russia (though the Russians really don’t care much about the Palestinians, their concern if far more for the Syrians and, even more so, for Iran). Furthermore, sooner or later the Palestinian people will come to their senses and understand that they have been conned by their own elites and that their only real allies are Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. If such a realization comes to them at a time when the US Empire will be even weaker than it is today and/or at a time when the al-Qaeda Wahabi-types will begin to seriously threaten the Gulf monarchies (say as a backlash to a lost war in Syria), there is a real change that a meaningful Palestinian resistance will begin to slowly reassemble itself, but around a different ideology (not the corrupt pseudo nationalism of Fatah or the reactionary Islamism of Hamas) and, of course, completely different leaders. I don’t know that this will happen, but I want to believe that this is still possible.
The other good news for the Palestinians is that the existence of a state based on a theocratic pseudo-democracy focused on an overtly racist world view with strong elements of self-worship is not just a Palestinian problem, or even a Middle-Eastern problem. Its a world-wide problem. Anybody doubting this should ask himself was a country whose nuclear deterrence policy is centered around the Sampson Option is working on increasing the range of its nuclear weapons far beyond the limits of the Middle-East. The answer is self-evident: if the “Jewish state of Israel” should ever fall, it will take a maximal number of goyim with it. And that is, of course, a planetary problem (I would also add that the very existence of an overtly racist state is also a disgrace for all of mankind).
Just like Wahhabism, Rabbinical Judaism (which should really be called Rabbinical Phariseism since all the modern forms of “Judaism” are really the direct descendant of the Sect of the Pharisees as described in the New Testament) and modern Zionism (which, unlike its historical early form, has now turned into a secular version of Phariseism) are religions based on hatred of the “other”. These are ideologies/worldviews which neatly breaks up all of mankind into two categories: the chosen ones and the hated ones. The Wahabis see themselves as the only real Muslims and everybody else, including all other non-Wahabi Muslims, as Kufar (unbelievers) while Pharisees see themselves as the only “humans” and everybody else as semi-beasts with a hatred for Jews deeply embedded in their DNA (that is their cop-out explanation for what they call “Antisemitism”). The Wahabis want to kill all the “others” while the Pharisees want to subjugate them all and, I kid you not, even “fix” creation.
Now, not to sound like Dubya, but I would strongly suggest that no form of peaceful coexistence is possible with these two ideologies. Remember, we are dealing with folks who sincerely believe that they have a God-ordained mission to either convert all of mankind or subjugate it. Departing from such a mission is, in the minds of these people, a form of apostasy and both religions consider apostasy as a capital crime. Therefore, this combination of 1) a “mandate from God Himself” and 2) a mission to transform all of mankind by logical necessity creates what can only be considered as an existential threat for all of mankind. Simply put: regardless of what “we” (all other “others) do or do not do, these folks (the Wahabis and the Pharisees) will not leave us alone. Ever.
As long as these sick ideologies were confined to a small section of the Arabian desert or a few small shtetls in Eastern Europe their existence was really no big deal. I mean – really – how many evil crackpots and sick ideologies has this planet seen since the dawn of mankind? Lots! And most of them remained within very local confines and only affected their immediate vicinity. In our case, however, we have to add a third component which make both Wahabism and Rabbinical Phariseism such existential threats to the rest of mankind: both of these ideologies have now metastasized far beyond their initial confines and they now have an undeniable world-wide reach. Of course, this was unfortunately made possible by the crucial role of the United States which saw both of these forces as playing a crucial, albeit different, role in its plans for global domination of the planet.
What all this means for the Palestinians is that pretty much regardless of what they will do, their enemy – the Zionists – is literally constantly generating its own antithesis (in a dialectical sense) in a never-ending process: the more powerful the Zionists become, the more powerful the resistance against them becomes (and herein, of course, lies to real cause of “Antisemitism” in human history). It might take a long time, but sooner or later mankind will firmly and resolutely “push-back” against this evil. And both Islam and Christianity teach that when eventually some form of evil (we do not know for sure which form this will be, a current one or a yet unknown one) will succeed in subduing the entire planet, then Christ Himself will return to save mankind.
Whatever may be the case, the Zionist regime which is currently “occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time” (to quote Ayatollah Khomeini) and will be replaced by some kind of non-racist state of its citizens. In other words, the liberation of Palestine is inevitable. The problem is that as a consequence of the Palestinian betrayal of the Resistance this might take much, much longer that one could have hoped for.
For the time being all what we will see is this: in the short term US-sponsored pseudo-negotiations to formally legalize all the illegal land grab made by the Zionists in Palestine and in the longer term the granting to the Zionists of a license to kill anybody opposed to this legalization. That’s it. And if even that fails, the Israelis will yet again have an opportunity to say that they made some great offers which the Palestinians refused. That too is a license to kill.
The much advertised “final status” is really a “final solution”. Everybody knows it, but nobody dares to openly say it.
The Saker
I’ve said this before: the Samson Option is a bluff. Israel’s security depends on the economic and military power of the USA. If the US was unable or unwilling to back Israel up and the country was faced with defeat and invasion the Zionists might threaten to nuke an Arab city if the Arabs didn’t withdraw but all the Arab commander would have to do would be to say “If you commit genocide against one of our cities I will not be responsible for what my men do to your women when Tel Aviv falls. Alternatively you can surrender now and I will guarantee their safety”
In such circumstances the Israelis would have to be psychotic to use their nukes. No state is going to allow anyone with mental issues to get their hand on the nuclear button. Not even North Korea would and certainly not Israel. Also the world reaction to an Israeli nuclear strike would seriously endanger the safety of Jews everywhere in the diaspora, even in North America and they must know that.
In the Biblical legend of Samson he brings the temple down on his head to destroy his enemies but he doesn’t sacrifice any Jewish lives except his own. That is very different from bringing the temple down on your whole people, including your children and grandchildren.
The Israeli nukes are militarily useless and their only purpose is to serve as a phallic talisman giving the Israeli public a false sense of security.
@Robert:In such circumstances the Israelis would have to be psychotic to…
They *are* psychotic. They have 2000 years of psychotic behavior. And, as all racist, they are also profoundly self-delusional. I *COMPLETELY* agree with you, 100%, that Israeli nukes cannot and will not ever deter an Arab attack on Israel. All it would do use unleash exactly what happened with in 70AD the legions of Titus entered into Jerusalem.
And, in all fairness, “our” (goy) ideas of nuclear deterrence (be it US or Soviet) are also predicated on a bizarre idea: if you wipe me off, I will do the same to you. Notice that it does “me” no good, but I will do it anyway. That is not really different from the Israeli posture, except that they will hold *ALL* goyim responsible whereas the nuclear powers would not strike at third parties (which in the Phariseic mindset do not exist: there are “us” – humans, and “them” the goyim, and its a zero sum game).
My 2cts.
Cheers!
Martin Indyk, IMO, is an obvious, AIPAC/Zionist operative like Dennis Ross, and James Woolsey. I guess Ross has become so obvious in this way that it is imagined that Indyk is a better choice. This choice shows how trivial and insincere the whole Kerry circus really is… This choice will indicate to the Palestinians that the US is intent on screwing them again. What on earth does Obama think he is doing…? He is just desperate to avoid being lambasted at the UN general assembly again come September…So, it’s a process for the sake of the process…That’s all folks…The infamous White House Murder Inc, KNOWS NO BOUNDS…
Best,
Joe
This was an excellent essay and I agree completely. In response to Robert, I suggest you read an excellent and comprehensive 1999report by Warner D. Farr, LTC, U.S. Army of the USAF Counterproliferation Center
Air War College. The report is called: “The Third Temple’s Holy Of Holies: Israel’s Nuclear Weapons” . I think you may still be able to get the link by Googling. Here is a direct citation about the fear of nuclear weapons use by Israel:
…”Gush Emunim, a right wing religious organization, or others, hijack a nuclear device to “liberate” the Temple Mount for the building of the third temple? Chances are small but could increase as radicals decry the peace process.138 A 1997 article reviewing the Israeli Defense Force repeatedly stressed the possibilities of, and the need to guard against, a religious, right wing military coup, especially as the proportion of religious in the military increases”. Since that report, the religious right have mulitiplied. So the scenario is very scary, which may be why the United States is building Armageddon-proof bunkers for Israel, called Site 911!! (see link http://www.businessinsider.com/us-site-y-911-phase-ii-tel-aviv-israel-2013-3
Off topic, but…
The Guardian released more details about what the NSA master criminals have been up to. Today the Guardian tells us of XKeyscore.
This sentence from the Guardian article caught my eye:
“The XKeyscore program also allows an analyst to learn the IP addresses of every person who visits any website the analyst specifies.”
Yet another reason to **secretly** (wink) spit in the food of NSA employees that patronize my place of work.
HI GUYS AND GALS!!! Can you guess who this is?
Also off-topic, a very sober analysis of Russia-Iran relations by M K Bhadrakumar:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-260713.html
I guess when you whittle it down the question for Russia is; is Iran a card to be played with the West, a partner or a future rival to be kept down. (or, as I suspect, a messy combination of the above)
@Anonymous Lurker: as always, Bhadrakumar is spot on and I can only agree with what he wrote. Yes, Putin will try to undo the damage done by Medvedev and his people though it is paradoxical that when Putin comes to Tehran the Iranian Presidency might well be occupied by a potential “Iranian Medvedev” in the face of Rouhani.
The Antey-2500 is not a “substitute for the S-300” it is a far more recent and capable system. You can read all about it here: http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Giant-Gladiator.html
I saw the article which claims that Russia will offer the Antey-2500 to Iran (http://www.en.rian.ru/world/20130622/181809995/Russia-Offers-Iran-New-Replacement-for-S-300–Paper.html) but this is almost too good to be true. I will believe this when it happens, but if it does happen I will truly rejoice.
As for what Iran represents for Russia it all depends on who is in power: as long as Putin and his people are in power Iran is a natural and, I would argue, vital ally. If folks like Medvedev come back to power all bets are off, IMHO.
Cheers,
The Saker
it is paradoxical that when Putin comes to Tehran the Iranian Presidency might well be occupied by a potential “Iranian Medvedev” in the face of Rouhani.
Rouhani may not be highly profile in his anti Zionist speeches, but he is just as committed to liberation of Palestine. Russia know when Syria is cleared of the vermins and rats, the PGCC states subdued, the Iran-Iraq-Syria axis will be extremely strong and a big competitor to Gaprom. Rouhani was elected to fight the Laragani’s, the bazaar economics and move Iran to an industrial state. Let us see the first cabinet posts and the acceptance by the Majlis of Iran.
@hans: Let us see the first cabinet posts and the acceptance by the Majlis of Iran.
You are absolutely right, a campaigning politician can be very different from the politician in power and it is too early to say what kind of President Rouhani will be.
the Iran-Iraq-Syria axis will be extremely strong
Agreed, but that strength will greatly depend upon Russian backing. Even taken together, Iran, Iraq and Syria are not in the same league as, say, Russia, China or the USA. Iran is already the major regional power, even without Iraq and Syria, Iraq remains *very* weak, the weakest of the three, while Syria could possibly emerge as the 2nd power after Iran, provided it can crush the Wahabi insurgency. But all three will remain dependent on Russia and China politically, and on Russia militarily.
and a big competitor to Gaprom
Or a strategic partner. There is enough demand for energy worldwide to not make that a zero sum game. I am optimistic that Russia and Iran will work together.
Cheers!
The Special Envoy for the ‘peace’ talks, Martin Indyk is the former ambassador to Israel & cofounder of Winep, one of the major Washington zionist thinktanks.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35722.htm
The new Israeli ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, is an ultra-right US born fruitcake that makes Netanyahu look like a dove.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/israel-confirms-right-wing-extremist-ambassador-us
This conference will simply be about using Hamas & the PA’s weakened position – due mostly to the rampant corruption of both parties political wings & having a right-wing anti-Palestinian military dictatorship in power in Egypt – to demand even more concessions from the Palestinians (although they’ve already given pretty much everything away).
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-310713.html
—
The long -shot of this is likely the rise of the hardline Islamic Jihad to the head of the Palestinian resistance.
Also worth a read is this article by Max Blumenthal, which is probably the best background report I’ve found on whole Bibi/Israel Lobby/Neocons/US political scene, which is a real eye-opener even to someone like me who follows these things pretty closely.
While this was written in January 2012, this is whole rotten machinery underlying these ‘negotiations’ laid bare…
The Bibi Connection
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/bibi-connection