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Decoding the Mideast Peace Rhetoric

(Politico) Ben Smith - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week announced a new round of peace talks, setting a one-year deadline for the talks, amid pessimism on both sides that the bitter Israeli-Palestinian stalemate could truly be broken in that time. In discussing the talks beginning September 2, all the parties spoke in incomprehensible diplomatic code. Here's a Politico translation of what Secretary Clinton really meant: Listen: These talks are going to happen because we insist on it. The Israeli settlement moratorium was about to expire, and then things really could have gotten out of hand. So we had to move quickly, and sure, we may not have worked out all the details yet. But we've pressured you into sitting down for the first time since President Barack Obama took office. We've averted a crisis, and those are small victories. And let's be honest: neither of you is being all that cooperative - and particularly you, Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas], with your foot-dragging and threats to drop out if somebody puts a concrete block down in the wrong place. So we're going to lock you into a summit before either of you changes your mind. Once you're at the table, the dynamic changes. You'll become more invested in making the process a success and creating a public climate in which peace is imaginable and even popular. We all know we're not going to resolve this in a year. But I had to throw the Palestinians a bone - they're always going on about deadlines - and the Israelis don't want this process to just be an endless pretext for slowing their growth either.
2010-08-27 08:23:35
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