Atop the Mast: the American flag, in honor of the successful efforts to date of Mr. Trump in bringing some element of peace to the Middle East and Gaza.
On the Yardarm: the flags of Qatar and Palestine. Qatar has played a key role as a mediator. Israel’s recent attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar, without informing Mr. Trump in advance, apparently was one motive for his aggressive steps to bring about a ceasefire.
The past week may mark a pivotal point in the Middle East after many decades and indeed almost a century of conflict between the government of Israel and its Arab neighbors. Several wars have been fought, inflicting massive casualties on all sides. The plight of the Palestinian people has been especially painful, starting with many being driven out of their homes and lands when Israel was created in 1949, and most recently the massive reprisals against Hamas and the people of Gaza after the horrific slaughter of Israelis just over two years ago.
Well-intended leaders on all sides have tried to end the violence and build a lasting peace that would allow Israelis, Palestinians, and their Arab neighbors to live in peace. President Biden was the most recent U.S. President who tried, and like all his predecessors, failed.
Surprisingly, President Trump’s unorthodox and strong-armed approach seems to have made a real difference. He has a long commitment to improving relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, reflected in the Abraham Accords of his first term. He put no restraints on the Israelis’ utter destruction in Gaza with devastating impacts on its civilian population, but once Hamas was for the most part defanged, he reportedly was very forceful in telling the Israeli government the fighting must end. Along with a multi-phase plan to put an international interim team in place in Gaza to replace Hamas’s role (which may or may not happen), his effort has resulted in a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages and thousands of Palestinian prisoners. Apparently the prospect of getting a future Nobel Peace Prize has motivated Mr. Trump.
If so, maybe we should hand out many Peace prizes in future years to address conflicts all over the world! While both sides have ample reasons to be skeptical and cynical about how things will play out, Pete Seeger’s dream that “We Shall Live in Peace” seems like one we should all share. If this holds, the remainder of Mr. Trump’s term will offer amply opportunity to create more positive engagement between Israel’s people and their Arab neighbors. There is now a real sliver of hope that, after so many painful years, they may live in peace.
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It’s all about a good Editor Tayloe
Let’s look at the big picture here. Trump’s role here was solely to provide an off-ramp for the corrupt war-criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, who was under increasing pressure within Israel from hostage families, to halt a war that he should have stopped a year or so ago. He did not moderate a peace deal but instead accommodated a war criminal and gave legitimacy to the status quo.
There is no long term peace here. Israel still is imposing an apartheid system on Palestinians living on the West Bank. Israel is in the midst of permanently incorporating Area C on the West Bank under Israeli control. Radical settlers continue to steal Palestinian land which is facilitated by an Israeli legal system that imposes impossible burdens on Palestinian plaintiffs.
Netanyahu’s father, Benzion Netanyahu, was a proponent of an “iron wall” separating Palestinians and Jews in the Revisionist Zionism movement of the 1930s and 1940s. It is this view that led directly to the expulsion of the resident Palestinians during the 1948 Israeli war of independence through means which we now define as “ethnic cleansing”. Massacre. Rape. Destruction of homes.
In that context, it is entirely understandable as to why movements such as Hamas arise. And still, Americans look upon the Netanyahu regime as the “good guys”.
Jeffry’s points are all well taken. At the same time we have seen several positive steps achieved in release of hostages and prisoners, a ceasefire in Gaza, greater involvement of Arab states in seeking a longterm solution, and an end, at least for now, of the notion that Gaza be converted into beachside resorts and Israeli occupation. World support for Israeli actions in Gaza has evaporated. All these things give one a “sliver” of hope. Time will tell if this moment of optimism will pass or if it can be the first steps in bringing a longterm resolution of this centuries-old conflict.
I agree completely with Jeffry Berner.