Momentous nonsense and its enabler in the Bush administration

Max Singer in his guest commentary for National Review Online, reports on the pathetic efforts of the New York Times to promote the “Geneva Accord” that purports to settle the hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians. The Times claims that the phony accord is “truly momentous” because Israelis and Palestinians of good will have declared in concrete terms how their conflict can end.” Singer notes, however, that lots have people have declared how the conflict can end. But no serious person believes it can end until the Palestinians truly accept the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. While giving lip-service to this prerequisitie, the “Geneva Accord” does nothing to bring about such acceptance. To the contrary, it reinforces the hope of Palestinians that they can use terror to destroy Israel as a Jewish state. Why? Because, as Singer explains, it squarely conflicts with the notion that Israel should only reach an agreement with “a new Palestinian leadership that is responsive to the needs and wishes of the Palestinian people” and that takes strong steps to curb Palestinian terrorism.
Some may recall that this notion is, in fact, the announced policy of the United States. In this regard, the real villain of Singer’s piece is not the New York Times or the fatuous Yossi Beilin. The real villain is Colin Powell, who has given support for an “Accord” that conflicts with official U.S. policy. As Singer concludes, what is truly momentous about Geneva is how quickly the promoters of the roadmap turned away from it once the Palestinians demonstrated that they would not live up to what it required of them. We can only hope that the reports that Powell will not serve in the second Bush administration are accurate.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses