I posted this in another thread. I thought it deserved a thread of it's own. Susan Rice's Statement on Palestine's UN Status Susan Rice's statement on this issue was very disappointing to say the least. Some comments: This is totally incorrect. Susan Rice would have us believe that negotiations ONLY, and nothing else, will lead to peace between the Palestinians and Israelis. The fault is that there is a significance preponderance of power to the Israeli side, a situation that has been perpetuated by US foreign policy. Therefore, there is little incentive, through negotiations ONLY, for the Israelis to agree to an agreement that will be just and acceptable to the Palestinians. The situation currently is like that of a puny kid trying to negotiate, with a violent bully who is much stronger, terms for the bully not taking his lunch. There is really no negotiation in such a situation. If it were ONLY between the bully and the puny kid, the kid can either voluntarily give the bully his lunch, or get his butt kicked and have his lunch taken by force. Neither is a just, acceptable solution to the puny kid. The Israelis are orders of magnitude superior in terms of military might. They are orders of magnitude superior in terms of economic power. The reason there is no peace is simple. Israel will not agree to a just and acceptable peace with the Palestinians as long as they have such a massive preponderance of power. Therefore the answer, that is derived from precision and clarity of thought, is that IRRESISTIBLE OUTSIDE PRESSURE ON THE ISRAELIS COMBINED WITH NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES, is the only way that a just peace can be achieved. This is also incorrect. The reason the US voted against it is that Obama and the Democrats, nor the Republicans, nor any other political force in the US can maintain political power on a national level if they oppose the powerful Israeli lobby in the US. This is the problem. Indeed to even speak out against them in this forum requires a considerable amount of courage. Susan Rice's use of the rhetoric "reality on the ground" here is probably the most offensive part of her statement. For years the Israelis have used this rhetoric to usurp land from the Palestinians. Any attempts by the Palestinians to halt such activity are met with the response: "it won't change the facts on the ground." In other words with have the power, we have taken the land, and it's nothing you can do about it. It's disgusting bullying, which unfortunately Susan Rice is supporting here, with this choice of words.
