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A Pragmatic Paradigm Shift Is Needed to Resolve the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

(Arab Weekly) Jason Isaacson - After too many lives lost and too many opportunities squandered, some pragmatic governments in the Middle East and North Africa are charting a new course to peace and a better life for their people, applying the lesson that, with patience and level-headed leadership, national interest can triumph over ideological rigidity. Suspicion and resentment of Israel remain common on the Arab street, in the media and in professional associations. Virulent rejectionism has adherents across the region. However, geostrategic realities - notably Iran's territorial ambitions - combined with awareness of Israeli technological prowess and cultural compatibility are shaping a new narrative. High-level contacts that once took place privately are now public events. It can be argued that the pragmatic decision to engage with Israel reflects an understanding that decades of Arab efforts to delegitimize Israel have done nothing to either make Palestinian statehood a reality or the achievements of the democratic Israeli state any less spectacular. Israel is reaching out to the Gulf and seeking to build on historic kinships and connections in North Africa and elsewhere in the Arab world. The news is that the region is beginning to reach back. The cracks in the Arab "anti-normalization" wall are spreading, revealing a promising future - one that offers a counter-narrative to the region's nihilist fanatics. The writer is the American Jewish Committee's associate executive director for policy.
2018-12-18 00:00:00
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