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Needed: A Post-Peace-Process Generation of Palestinian Leaders
(RealClearWorld) Ronald Tiersky - The Palestinian cause has effectively worn out its welcome. For no government in the Middle East or outside of it is the Palestinian right to a state a priority. For the U.S., settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict used to be a priority because Arab Sunni countries were a big source of oil. However, America's shale-based energy revolution decreases the Middle East's importance to America's vital interests. The peace process has not broken down. There simply is no peace process, and has not been for years. Sporadic factitious negotiations are not a peace process. Arguably, over the past few decades the worst enemy of the Palestinian people has been their own leaders. The Palestinians need a post-peace-process generation of leaders, people ready to accept geopolitical and historical reality in order to turn their outlook from hopeless to hopeful. The writer is professor of political science at Amherst College.