A two-faced policy cooked up with just one of the sides

Opinion

Cal Thomas, Tribune Content Agency

A two-faced policy cooked up with just one of the sides — Jackson Citizen Patriot, 3 January 2017 — Jackson Citizen Patriot · 3 January 2017

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Opinion A two-faced policy cooked up with just one of the sides Cal Thomas Tribune Content Agency In his recent speech excoriating Israel for refusing to commit suicide by allowing a sworn enemy to have a state adjoining the Jewish state, Secretary of State John Kerry claimed the U.S. government "did not draft or originate" the U.N. resolution critical of Israeli "settlements." Kerry said there were no American fin- gerprints on the resolution and that it was totally the idea of the Egyptians and Pal- estinians.

Except that it wasn't, if one can believe Egyptian intelligence. The Middle East Media Research Insti- tute reports on a story published in an Egyptian news website with close ties to Egyptian Intelligence.

According to the report, a secret meeting took place in Wash- ington in mid-December attended by Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and a Palestinian delegation that included PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat. Political discussions were also said to be part of the agenda.

According to the transcribed minutes obtained by Al-Youm Al-Sabi, the gather- ing "reveals U.S. coordination leading up to the U.N. Security Council vote on Reso- lution 2334 regarding Israel's settlements. ...

It states that the sides 'agreed to coop- erate in drafting a resolution on the settle- ments' and that the U.S. representative in the Security Council was 'empowered' to coordinate with the Palestinian U.N. repre- sentative on the resolution." Susan Rice is said to have warned the Palestinians about the "danger" of the incoming Trump administration's poli- cies, adding that both she and Kerry had advised Palestinian President Mahmoud Kerry said the resolution was totally the idea of the Egyptians and Palestinians.

Except that it wasn't.

Abbas not to make any preliminary moves that might "provoke the new administra- tion." The report also said Kerry and Rice had "fulsomely praised Abbas' policies and how he handled matters, and harshly criti- cized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net- anyahu, saying that he 'aims to destroy the two-state solution." This is remarkably cynical even in our cynical age.

If the Egyptian newspaper report is true — and the Obama adminis- tration has so far not denied it— the admin- istration is guilty of a two-faced solution to the conflict, which is no solution at all from the standpoint of Israel and the Jewish people who have been the targets of unpro- voked attacks since Israel's rebirth in 1948.

Furthermore, since the Palestinian side now includes Hamas and Fatah in a unity coalition - two entities that have vowed not omy to never make peace with Israel but to seek its destruction and the expul- sion of all Jews from the land - only a fool would believe that peace is possible under such circumstances.

Peace, like success, is a byproduct, not a goal that can be reached without certain precursors. Success is achieved by hard work, a good education and right relation- ships. Peace is achieved when one side is victorious or two sides decide they don't want to fight anymore. Jordan and Egypt gave up on war, leading to peace with Israel. The Palestinian side fights on.

President-elect Trump has promised things will be different when it comes to U.S. policy toward Israel starting Jan. 20. One can only hope.

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"A two-faced policy cooked up with just one of the sides," Jackson Citizen Patriot, 3 January 2017. Covering Palestine archive, CP-2017-018. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-2017-018