Could this work with Israel and Palestine? I really don't know. Probably the hard parts are too hidden under the "get some really smart people to work out the details" part of the proposal. And of course I don't like the sound of how much the U.S. would have to (militarily?) force this on both sides. But frankly I haven't heard any other plans that even seem worth considering. So could this work? Bypassing Sharon and Arafat and taking it right to the people seems like genius. What am I missing?
Sharon doesn't want a settlement of the conflict. He wants to continue the slow-motion expansion of Israel until Palestine is a series of small, isolated dependencies. Apartheid is the model that comes to mind.
Arafat seems to relish the victim role more than the statesman role. So he's unlikely to settle, especially for the crumbs that Sharon would be willing to offer.
So, yes, bypassing these two may be the way to go. In general, the US and the rest of the world should be more willing to intervene and impose a solution. But that's much more complicated that blowing up palaces in Baghdad.
wow, even in my dark neoliberal heart i never realized we could actually just IGNORE existing governments and simply "go right to the people!"
Wait til Cheney hears about this! What fun!
Not the same thing, but maybe interesting: The architects of a groundbreaking peace initiative, denounced by Ariel Sharon as akin to treason, are distributing copies of the document to every Israeli home this week in an attempt to exploit eroding public confidence in the government and to force negotiations with the Palestinians.
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- jim 9-20-2003 9:17 pm
Sharon doesn't want a settlement of the conflict. He wants to continue the slow-motion expansion of Israel until Palestine is a series of small, isolated dependencies. Apartheid is the model that comes to mind.
Arafat seems to relish the victim role more than the statesman role. So he's unlikely to settle, especially for the crumbs that Sharon would be willing to offer.
So, yes, bypassing these two may be the way to go. In general, the US and the rest of the world should be more willing to intervene and impose a solution. But that's much more complicated that blowing up palaces in Baghdad.
- mark 9-21-2003 5:36 am [add a comment]
wow, even in my dark neoliberal heart i never realized we could actually just IGNORE existing governments and simply "go right to the people!"
Wait til Cheney hears about this! What fun!
- big jimmy 9-24-2003 2:02 am [add a comment]
Not the same thing, but maybe interesting:
- jim 11-20-2003 5:32 pm [add a comment]