Zero -Sum Game--Decoding ‘Palestinian’ strategy helps us understand another threat

Jewish World Review ^ | 10-13-04 | Jonathan Tobin

[SJackson]

For those waiting to see if Israel would be any sort of an issue in the first presidential debate last week, the answer was clearly not.

With the spotlight on Iraq, it is unlikely that either President George W. Bush or Sen. John Kerry see much point in grandstanding on the Israeli-Arab conflict. The obsessive focus on Israel seems to be fading from the foreground of American public opinion.

There is something to be said for this, in and of itself, but it might be wise for American policymakers to use this point to reassess some of our basic assumptions about the situation.

After four years of a Palestinian terror war that most experts seem to agree is petering out in abysmal failure, maybe it's time again to ask what exactly it is that the Palestinians want? And what, if anything, should Americans be doing about it?

For most of us looking on from afar, the tit-for-tat going on across the border between Israel and Gaza is just a messy cycle of violence in which no one party is more to blame than the other. The assumption remains that if only the Palestinians would agree to stop terror and the Israelis would give them a state of their own, the fighting would cease.

But Israel's government has already announced it will abandon those slivers of Gaza it still controls along with the settlements planted there, sometime next year. But the Palestinians, especially the Hamas Islamic fundamentalists, continue to shoot Kassam rockets over the border into Israel. These cause both damage and casualties and prompt counterattacks by the Israelis which hurt Hamas but are unlikely to stop the attacks.

What does any of this accomplish?

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

At the request of a European freeper

The association Acmedias (auditeurs critiques des medias = critical media spectators) is gathering signatures on a petition relative to the accounting of victims by AFP (Agence France-Presse) in the israeli-palestinian conflict.

The petition and the list of signatures will be given to the members of the council of administration of AFP, which includes nominees of the Prime Minister, of the Minister of Economy and Finances, of the Minister of Industry and of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Sam Cree]

"And by that I mean the clear and present danger posed by the certainty that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, neither Bush nor Kerry have enunciated what might be considered a coherent policy concerning this real threat."

Well, I believe Kerry has said he will approach this problem by supplying Iran with nuclear material, since he thinks doing the same for N Korea worked so well.

Another problem is that Islamic radicals will probably consider a Kerry victory as a great victory in their war against the West. No doubt the Iranian mullahs will see it that way too, and be emboldened to continue their efforts at nuclear armament.

And we should not forget that the Iranians have a long list of targets within America herself that they have earmarked for destruction.

[wizardoz]

The current administration is clearly divided over whether to confront Tehran or to engage in a dialogue aimed at getting them to stand down from their nuclear ambitions. Despite some strong rhetoric from Washington, Iran may think it has no reason to fear resolute action.

Not in the next three weeks, anyway. I'm not surprised that Bush's re-election platform ISN'T "Vote for me and I'll invade Iran next." I mean, come on.

[Valin]

maybe it's time again to ask what exactly it is that the Palestinians want?

I think we all know the answer to this.