Friedman on Peace Process : America Should ‘Get Out of The Picture’
In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, asserts that the United States should abandon the Palestinian-Israeli peace process altogether because it has become a play of the same script different cast:
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has become a bad play. It is obvious that all the parties are just acting out the same old scenes, with the same old tired clichés — and that no one believes any of it anymore…[there is] no urgency — not even a sense of importance anymore. The only thing driving the peace process today is inertia and diplomatic habit.
Friedman may be correct in stating that to the leaders, who merely want to retain power, there is seemingly little urgency to a peace process in the region. However, though there may be little urgency to the leaders of Israel and Palestine there is an actual urgency for the people of both lands. With both Israel and Hamas being found guilty of war crimes by the United Nations, the people of Israel and Palestine are the ones who actually need a legitimate peace process.
As Friedman states, to the leaders of Israel, Palestine, and the Arab states, the entire peace-process is just an orchestrated dance that does little else than make the leaders of the region feel more important while doing little to bring actual peace and stability to their region:
“Look, the U.S. secretary of state is here. Look, she’s standing by my side. Look, I’m doing something important! Take our picture. Put it on the news. We’re on the verge of something really big and I am indispensable to it.” This enables the respective leaders to continue with their real priorities — which are all about holding power or pursuing ideological obsessions — while pretending to advance peace, without paying any political price.
Let’s just get out of the picture. Let all these leaders stand in front of their own people and tell them the truth: “My fellow citizens: Nothing is happening; nothing is going to happen. It’s just you and me and the problem we own.”
Friedman proposes an interesting idea, however, if the United States was to get out of the peace process it would also have to halt its hypocritical support (military and financially) of Israel, because in reality, that is the one thing they have never tried. It would solve nothing if the United States backed out of the peace process but continued to support Israel with arms and finances. The only way that any progress or truth can arise from a U.S. withdrawal of the peace process is if all the nations fought on equal terms and that can only happen if Israel is no longer supported by the United States.
That is in fact, Friedman’s greatest flaw, he never mentions the disproportionate power balances in the situation. The real question is not what would happen if the United States backed out of the peace process, but what would happen in the United States ended its support of Israel and allowed the situation to play out on an even scale?
Call White House, Ask for Barack [New York Times]
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