Does John McCain want to destroy Jordan?

It was all a hoax, but the Arab world keeps talking about it all the same.

A report that an aide to presidential candidate John McCain wants to turn Jordan into a Palestinian state is apparently a hoax. It was reported widely in the Arab world that Robert Kagan had given a speech at a New York university that advocated turning Jordan into a Palestinian state. But Kagan denies making the statement or even that such a speech took place. The university in question can find no record of any such event where such a speech might have been given.

The speech was reported by news tabloid service Ammonnews, but it was later revealed the information came from the Israeli site Filkka Israel.

In case there is any question about the agenda of the above Arab-language blog, they list (in English) one of their goals as “Destroying the kingdom of Jordan peacefully and bringing back its land to its normal situation as a part of great Palestine.” They have also been known to write dubious stories about such topics as “Saudi Ambassador Saves 3 Mossad Agents but a 4th is still in Beirut [6/15/2008] as well as stories about Israeli intelligence borrowing cars from the wives of Hizbullah members”. Hee, hee, hee.

The above Arab language blog post is translated, rather laboriously, as might be expected with machine translation, with the FoxLingo toolbar as follows:

John McCain Adviser for Foreign Affairs: John built a solid option Jordanian final solution for the Palestinians. نيويورك - جاين بيتيفت New York - Jane Ketevan

خلال محاضرة ترويجية لأفكار المرشح الجمهوري للرئاسة الأميركية جون ماكين في قاعة ألمرت هولمز بوبست في جامعة نيويورك . During the lecture promotional ideas for the Republican presidential candidate John McCain at the American Chamber salary Holmes Stopes at the University of New York. وأمام الآلاف من الطلاب والأكاديميين أعلن الخبير في شؤون الجغرافيا السياسية والسياسات الدولية روبرت كاغان وهو يشكل مع ويليام كريستول الفريق المكلف بتقدم تصور مفصل لإستراتيجية السياسة الخارجية في الشرق الأوسط للمرشح الجمهوري . Faced with thousands of students and academics announced expert in the affairs of political geography and international policies Robert Flanagan It is with William Kristol team progress to imagine a detailed strategy for foreign policy in the Middle East for the Republican candidate.
أعلن روبرت كاغان أن المرشح الرئاسي عن الجمهوريين قد تبنى بالفعل إستراتيجية الخيار الأردني للتخلص من العبء الذي تشكله قضية النزاع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي حول الأراضي في الضفة الغربية على السياسة العامة للولايات المتحدة في الشرق الأوسط. Robert Flanagan announced that the presidential candidate of the Republican strategy has already built the Jordanian option to get rid of the burden posed by the issue of Palestinian-Israeli dispute over land in the West Bank on the public policy of the United States in the Middle East. الخبير المعروف في الشؤون الدولية والمحسوب على الصقور المسماة ” نيو كون ” قال بأن السياسة الأميركية الخارجية مع جون ماكين ستأخذ منحى مباشرا للتعامل مع القضية بشكل يريح المنطقة ودولها للتفرغ بمعاونة الأميركيين لنشر الديمقراطية ومحاربة إرهاب الإسلام الفاشي. Known expert in international affairs and calculated the hawks, called “New fact”, he said that U.S. foreign policy with John McCain will take direct action to deal with the issue and its comfort zone for full-time help of the Americans to spread democracy and fight terrorism fascist Islam. وفي شرحه للإستراتيجية الجديدة قال: In his explanation of the new strategy, he said:
الأردن هو الوطن الطبيعي لملايين الفلسطينيين من سكانه وكذلك هو الحل الأمثل لقضية اللاجئين الذين ذاب أغلبهم في المجتمعات التي يقيمون فيها ولكن البقية ممن تعيش في المخيمات سيكون عليها الإختيار بين البقاء في أماكنها أو الإستيطان في الأراضي الفلسطينية شرق الأردن . Jordan is the natural home for millions of Palestinians of the population and also is the best solution to the issue of refugees who have mostly melted away in the communities in which they reside, but the rest of those who live in the camps will have to choose between staying in place or settle in the Palestinian territories east of Jordan. وقد أثار إ‘ستخدام روبرت كاغان لتعبير ” الأراضي الفلسطينية شرق الأردن ” وهو الخبير الأميركي المعروف بأنه كاتب إستراتيجيات عدة بخصوص الدول العربية إستفادت منها الإدارة الأميركية برئاسة جورج بوش وهو مقرب منها، أثار إستغراب الأكادميين الحاضرين فوجه أحدهم سؤال لكاغان فور إتاحة الفرصة له وقال: The effects of a ‘Khaddam Robert Flanagan of the term “Palestinian land east of Jordan” which is known to be an American expert writer strategies regarding several Arab countries benefited from the American administration headed by George W. Bush is close, the effects of amazement academic attendees drew one of them asked Flanagan soon allow him and said:
هل يعني ذلك أن الضفة وغزة لن تكونا مكانا لدولة فلسطينية مستقبلية وفقا لإعلان جورج بوش العام 2003؟ Does this mean that the West Bank and Gaza will not be a place for a future Palestinian state, according to George Bush declared the year 2003? فأجاب كاغان: Agha replied:
الأردن يضم أغلبية فلسطينية ومن الطبيعي حين نتحدث عن الدمقراطية أن تحكم الأغلبية في بلدها، وبالتالي لن يكون هناك حاجة لدولة أخرى لأنها بالفعل موجودة وهي قائمة ويمكن للعائلة الهاشمية أن تبقى في الملك إن أراد الشعب الفلسطيني ذلك، أما عن الضفة الغربية فمشكلتها بسيطة، التجمعات السكانية الإسرائيلية تبقى جزءا من دولة إسرائيل والتجمعات السكانية الفلسطينية يتم تبادل الأراضي فيما بينها وبين إسرائيل حيث هي غير قابلة للتواصل مع الدولة الفلسطينية شرق الأردن والباقي يصبح جزءا من فلسطين التي تمتد من حدود العراق إلى حدود إسرائيل. Jordan has a majority Palestinian Of course when we talk about Damaqratih that govern the majority in the country, and therefore there will be no need for another country because it already exists a list of the family can remain in the Hashemite king that he wanted the Palestinian people, either from the West Bank problem is simple, residential areas Israel remains part of the State of Israel and the Palestinian population centres are exchanging land between them and Israel, where they are not continue with a Palestinian state east of Jordan and the rest become part of Palestine which extends from Iraq’s borders to the borders of Israel.
سؤال آخر وجه لكاغان عن غزة فقال: هاواي تبعد الاف الأميال عن الأراضي الأميركية ورغم ذلك هي جزء من هذه البلاد . Another question to face Flanagan said from Gaza: Hawaii thousands of miles away from U.S. territory, although it is part of this country. طالب أردني إعترض على كاغان وقال له بأنه من أصل فلسطيني ولا يوافقه الرأي فأجابه : Jordanian student objected to the songs and told him that, of Palestinian origin does not share his opinion replied:
وأنا لا أوافقك الرأي ايضا …لقد أصبحنا متعادلين ويمكننا أن نكون أصدقاء ما أثار الضحك في القاعة . I do not share his ideas … We are also equivalent and we can be friends as the effects of laughter in the hall.

Here are the two photographs that appear on the blog with the hoax:

And who might Robert Kagan be? He is one of the neoconservatives (as opposed to “pragmatists”) currently vying for McCain’s favor, although he claims he is not a Straussian. That appears to be his photo on the right. Here is a podcast of him speaking about his book The Return of History, and the video of an interview with Charlie Rose here.

And who might be the other photo? Is it “Jane Ketevan”, the purported author of the piece? No Google hits on that name. What about spelling it more like the Arabic spelling–”Jane Beteft”? Still no hits. if you click on the photo in the original blog and check the properties, it gives the information “pitfieldmain.jpg”. Could this be a photo of Canadian politician Jane Pitfield, who once ran for mayor of Toronto? Could be. Maybe a really old photo of her. This “destroy Jordan” thing doesn’t sound like the type of thing she would be interested in though.

Oh, but what does it mean? By now everyone in the Arab world has figured out the whole thing was a fake, but they keep talking about it just the same. Does anything happen by accident over there?

Maybe it’s an attempt to discredit Kagan and the neocons ahead of the U.S. elections–after all, Kagan’s brother is the architect of the Iraqi “surge”. Or maybe it is a another push towards Palestinian statehood, as the clock keeps ticking on the American political window of opportunity for George W. Bush. Bush could set it up for McCain, so McCain can ride the euphoria of an apparent Middle East resolution into the November elections without incurring blame or displeasure from the conservative Jewish vote.

What IS the Bush administration doing about Palestinian statehood???

Jordan celebrates independence–and the King reminds us it’s time for Palestinian independence

May 25 is Jordan’s independence day.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!!

In a televised statement celebrating Jordan’s independence, King Abdullah II talked about supporting Palestinian independence:

We will not hesitate in performing any role or effort and exploiting our ties with influential powers and international forums to enable our Palestinian brethren to regain their right and set up their independent state….

We will continue to commit ourselves to the choice of just peace based on international legitimacy resolutions and within the Arab consensus.

Good idea.

But how does a nation become independent these days? I really have no clue.

American wrote a Declaration of Independence, then fought a war against England. Would anyone fight a war against Palestine if they just went ahead and declared independence?

So how exactly did Jordan get to be independent?

• From 16th century: Jordan was part of the Ottoman empire, ruled from Damascus.
• After WWII, the League of Nations created the French Mandate of Syria and the British Mandate Palestine.
• 1921-Britain gave Transjordan semi-autonomous control
• On March 22, 1946 Britain signed a treaty granting independence to Jordan
• 1946-British requested United Nations approval to ending the British Mandate in Transjordan
• The Jordanian Parliament proclaimed King Abdullah the first king of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• The king proclaimed the state to be officially inaugurated and a series of ceremonies was done in the morning of May 25 in the capital of Amman.

So those were the steps back in the last century. Either a war or an agreement with whatever country it’s already a part of, then approval by an international body, then recognition by its own internal government. It looks like it helps if a major world power sponsors the UN resolution.

So I say the Palestinians themselves have to take the next step. They need to plan their party.

First they will have to declare independence. They already have a legislature and an elected leader, although he’s probably still getting his strength back from the surgery, but they can still pass some resolutions. Then they will have to get either George Bush or the Queen of England to sponsor a UN resolutiuon. Then they pass some resolutions and have a ceremony. Then they get official recognition by Jordan, the U.S. and England, in which order, I don’t know. Then I guess they play the birthday song and dance the dubka for about the next week. After that they can get around to manufacturing passports and figuring out who to bribe to get them.

Or something like that.

Someone tell me why this can’t work.

Chomsky, Israel Lobby co-author Mearsheimer to speak at Chicago’s Rockefeller Chapel in October 2007

UPDATE: link to speaker schedule HERE

This one is hard enough to find online. John Mearsheimer, co-author of The Israel Lobby, will be speaking in October in Chicago along with Noam Chomsky and others:

12 October 2007 - 2:00pm - 7:00 pm
Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago

I first caught this on NPR on a local Chicago show called Worldview. As I turned on the radio, I was caught up short by the assertion that the only thing preventing the formation of a Palestinian state is the U.S. Israel lobby. Two authors were on the show discussing their book and it got very interesting. The authors say the Israeli lobby, like the NRA, does not represent the actual views of the members that support them, but only the most extreme views. They also characterize the lobby as not being religious in nature–they say the group is political–as many Jews oppose the work of the lobby and many Christians support it.

The book, Stephen M. Walt and John J. Mearsheimer’s The Israel Lobby and U.S. Policy not surprisingly made the New York Times unhappy.

But what does anyone really know about the Israel Lobby, besides what is whispered–sometimes not so quietly–on the Arab Street.

Philosophers say they like Noam Chomsky, not because they agree with him, but because they have to engage in a lot of original thought to figure what is wrong with what he is saying. These authors seem to be having the same kind of effect on the public debate over the Middle East.

Maybe it’s time to get that kind of sunlight onto the Israel lobby.

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Related posts:

Academic Freedom-the shirt 

Chomsky Ditches Rockefeller Chapel, Politics is Still Local 

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The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of Palestinian legislature boycotts.

Hamas is boycotting the Palestinian legislature, reports the New York Times.   The reason?   Oh,  “at least 39 Hamas legislators from the West Bank now being held in Israel jails without charges”.

Imagine that.

The legislature can’t meet without a quorum.  You’ve gotta love the Palestinians though.  When the video link between Gaza and Ramallah was lost during the emergency session, what did they do? Whipped out their cellphones, of course.

What else? Sunday, Omar Karmi of the Jordan Times reported cessation of hostilities by the Fateh Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade”:

Meanwhile, the Israeli Cabinet Sunday approved a plan to stop hunting 178 Fateh members in the West Bank in return for their agreement to end any attacks on Israeli targets.

Scores of wanted members of Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades convened on Palestinian security forces headquarters across the West Bank to sign the agreement.

A spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Miri Eisin, said Israel agreed on a list of those who have “deactivated themselves as terrorists… are going to hand down their arms, and, as part of the new developing security relationship, Israel will not pursue them any more”.

It’s a busy region this week.

Sunday, former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres was sworn in as Israeli president replacing Moshe Katsav, who resigned in the latest scandals.

Monday, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his official residence in Jerusalem.

Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will be in town.

Palestinian news service Ma’an  now reports 45 Hamas legislators detained in Israeli jails. Oh, dear, they’re missing all the fun.

The Palestinian State: Parsing King Abdullah

Last week I suggested the reason Palestine had not yet declared statehood might be the lack of a viable security plan, rather than ineffectual leadership. What does have to be in place before Palestine can declare statehood?

No one in the world is more motivated to achieve peace in Palestine than Jordan’s King Abdullah. What does the King say?

Last week in Canada, King Abdullah made the following statement:

What happens on the ground in the next days and weeks is obviously critical, but the parties do not act in isolation. The international community can and must help shape the strategic direction of events. It begins by keeping the focus on the central objective. And that is a final settlement, which can stop an expansion of violence and clear the way to thriving, stable, civic life.

Days and weeks. This is a change from his remarks to the BBC at the side of the G-11 summit in May:

There is a historic opportunity to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement, and achieve it now, this year, before any more generations suffer, before any more destruction takes place.

Clearly the King is not speaking hypothetically. This is not a leader given to hyperbole or saber-rattling. Jordan’s King is pragmatic, practical. He chooses words carefully. In May he expected a settlement within the year. Now he is talking in terms of days and weeks. In all of my lifetime there has been war in Palestine. I cannot remember anything else; I cannot imagine anything else. But this King, who is both well-educated and savvy to the Arab street, thinks a peace is possible, workable, doable, now, this year, if not sooner.

And why not?

But what about the question of security? Don’t Israeli troops have to withdraw before Palestine can declare Statehood? The obvious from U.S. history is “of course not.” America declared independence long before the last British soldier departed.

But what does Our King say? Ah, he chooses his words so carefully…

There must be a timetable that plans for, and sees to the finish line, the establishment of a Palestinian state. And it must expedite Israel’s implementation of required action, including a withdrawal from the Palestinian territories and an end to occupation.

Is he saying Israel needs to be out of Palestine in order to have peace? No, wait, read it again. It says the establishment of the Palestinian State must “expedite” not “precede” an end to occupation.

And look again at King Abdulla’s remarks to the BBC during the G-11 summit:

If we don’t have a Palestinian state, can we ever have peace between the Arabs and the Israelis?

and the last part of the first statement above:

And that is a final settlement, which can stop an expansion of violence and clear the way to thriving, stable, civic life.

The previous Roadmap called for decreasing violence as a prerequisite for a Palestinian state. The results were not pretty, with each side blaming the other for the latest round of attacks and counterattacks that continually set back the timetable for statehood. Now King Abdullah is saying the opposite: a Palestinian State must come before peace.

What else did the King say in Canada? His vision for the Middle East, which is economic rather than ideological, was vintage Abdullah:

Achieving peace is only the beginning. Peace can only be sustained if the people of our region have the opportunity to lead a productive and satisfying life. For that to be possible, the economies of our region must maximise their potential. There are opportunities for investment in infrastructure, for participation in a growing private sector and for developing markets.

What did the King NOT say? That was said by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose government was the first to cut off assistance to the Palestinian Authority when Hamas won a majority in the legislature eighteen months ago.

But at the same time though, if I can be frank, I think Canada and others need to do two things vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority: One is obviously to indicate our support for a moderate government and negotiated solutions, but the other is to impress upon those authorities the necessity for reform and better governance. It is our view that the Palestinian people did not vote for extremism. They voted against problems in governance and those have to be addressed.

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Related posts:

Palestine Independence: Who would provide security?

Remarks by King Abdullah 5-21-07 to Nik Gowing, BBC World, at the side of G11 Economic Forum

The elephant in the room: Is this why Palestine leadership won’t declare independence?

Hamas: forget “Palestine First”

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The elephant in the room: Is this why Palestine leadership won’t declare independence?

Is this the picture that is worth a thousand words?

This is the elite Palestinian “special presidential guard” that answers directly to the president of the Palestinian Authority. My high school marching band looked better than that.

The photo appeared in yesterday’s Jordan Times (articles remain online for one week).

Palestine Independence: Who would provide security?

Could security be the one thing that is preventing Palestine’s leadership from declaring independence?

Here are the clues:

1) Can Arab armies fight? An old joke about Saddam’s army is that Iraq bought tanks from France: one speed forward and four speeds reverse. The quickness of the U.S. capture of Baghdad did not surprise me in the least. I have read fictional accounts of the 1967 war that say the Arab armies–with the exception of the Jordanian Arab Legion, which trashed the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem–all ran away as soon as they met any resistance. Palestinian friends have confirmed this for me, saying, “I was in Palestine in 1967 and saw this with my own eyes.”

So much for the Palestinian Authority providing its own security.

2) What about Jordan?  After all, Jordan has the only Arab army in the world that Israel is afraid of.  Ah, but Jordan’s King Abdullah is not at all excited by the possibility.  From the King’s 7-2-07 interview:

Al Ghad: The events in Palestine have revived the issue of confederation with Jordan, or the administrative annexation of the West Bank to Jordan as a way out of the crisis. Despite Jordan’s emphasis that confederation before independence is not an option, there are those who speak of Israeli and American pressure on Jordan to accept this arrangement.

King: We’ve grown tired of discussing this issue. Our position is clear and has been made public. No one can do anything to change it. We refuse the notion of confederation or federation. This proposal at this stage is a conspiracy against both Palestine and Jordan. Our position is clear and principled. We cannot accept these solutions, no matter what the pressures are. As for the future relationship with Palestine, it’s premature to discuss it. This will only be done after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian soil. The Jordanian and Palestinian people will decide the form of this relationship. Jordanians refuse any settlement of the Palestinian issue at their expense. I say clearly that the idea of confederation or federation, or what is called administrative responsibility, is a conspiracy against the Palestinian cause, and Jordan will not involve itself in it.

So what was all that about? The Palestinians separated from Jordan long ago, and King Hussein unhappily accepted the situation (and stopped paying pensions for Palestine’s retired soldiers) after much foot-dragging. And some say Jordan didn’t do all that much to develop Palestine economically–their airport remained second rate and they were considered the poor relation. Clearly King Abdullah doesn’t want to get mixed up in that issue again.

The Jordanian annexation issue is further illuminated by a July 8 guest editorial piece by Walid M. Sadi in the Jordan Times:

Israel had ample opportunity to negotiate with Jordan about ending its occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, right after the 1967 war, but it aborted it. That opportunity was lost when Israel derailed all efforts to perform a complete withdrawal from all the West Bank territories, including East Jerusalem, in favour of Jordan.

Okay, we won’t talk about those little spats between Jordan and Palestine, or all those little assassination attempts against King Hussein, or the 1969 Fateh attempt to take over the Jordanian government, or how the 1969 bru-ha-ha allowed King Hussein to secure the Jordanian-Israeli border and stop cross-border raids from Jordan  into Israel. It’s Israel’s fault and let’s talk about that.

3) Israel is cooperating with the PA to some extent and is currently supplying security for the PA. According to an AP piece published in the July 4 Jordan Times that describes renewed low-level security meetings between Israel and the PLO:

The common anti-Hamas strategies of Israel and the new Fateh-allied government in the West Bank were clearly seen this week.

On Monday morning, Israel’s Shin Bet security service announced it had arrested 11 Hamas fighters in Jerusalem over a period of months, charging them with channeling funds from abroad and laying the groundwork for a “pool” of recruits.

That afternoon, pro-Fateh Palestinian security officers arrested four more Hamas activists, including a former lawmaker, in the West Bank city of Nablus.

But this arrangement is seen as contrary to Palestinian interests:

But Israel’s interests and those of Abbas’ government don’t entirely coincide. Israel has continued pursuing Fateh gunmen — who nominally owe loyalty to Abbas — with raids like one in the town of Nablus last week, which left one Fateh man dead.

So if Palestine would become a state, who would provide for its security? 1) Not the Paletinian Authority–they couldn’t even prevent last month’s armed Hamas takeover of Gaza. 2) Not Jordan. That opportunity was lost at the end of the 1967 war. 3) Not Israel, their national interest is not the same as Palestine’s.

Perhaps the current choice is between Israel continuing to provide security or the complete takeover of Palestine by “Islamic” extremists backed by hidden powers.  A choice between the devil you know and the devil you don’t know.

Hamas: forget “Palestine First”

Hamas? That’s not the Palestinian flag they’re raising over Abbas’ former headquarters in Gaza, is it.

And who are they? They cover their faces.

Follow the money–another proxy war between Iran and the U.S.

BBC Reporter Johnston Released in Gaza

The Jordan Times reports today that BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who passed his 45th birthday while in captivity, was released into Hamas custody in Gaza on Wednesday.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers said Johnston’s release marked the beginning of a new era of law and order in the lawless coastal strip, including a crackdown on vigilante gunmen.

However, they also acknowledged they would not disarm Johnston’s captors, the Army of Islam, which has close ties to one of Gaza’s most powerful clans.

West Bank Palestinian Fateh party reaction was positive towards Johnston’s release, but claimed the abduction had been staged by Hamas, which last week carried out a military coup in Gaza:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed Johnston’s release, calling him “the Palestinian people’s friend”. Abbas said groups like the Army of Islam “destroy the authority of law and create a chaotic situation” and must be dismantled.An Abbas aide, Yasser Abed Rabbo, alleged Wednesday that Hamas and the Army of Islam were allies who coordinated the reporter’s kidnapping and release. “I think that this was staged by Hamas to appear as if it respects international law,” Abed Rabbo said.

The BBC identifies further the group holding Johnston:

Alan Johnston did not name his captors, though he clearly knew who they were.

The family is called the Dogmush, and the branch of the clan which held him styled itself as the “Army of Islam”, under the command of Mumtaz Dogmush.

The BBC reports extraordinary efforts on the part of Hamas to free Johnston:

Hamas’s priority is to restore law and order to the Gaza Strip, and one the first items on that agenda was to get Alan Johnston freed.

The group’s Executive Forces, a kind of irregular police force in Gaza, and its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, deployed in the Dogmush neighbourhood.

Up to five members of the clan were detained in the last few days. There are reports that water and electricity were cut off in some streets.

Calls also came from senior members of the family from different branches to free Alan.

Johnston is fortunate indeed to  work for a high-profile organization like the BBC that can organize a worldwide moment of silence or an online petition. How many other reporters have been killed or disappeared without so much publicity?

Is a Palestinian State Offensive?

Abu Ameerah over at Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah comments:

The “formation of a Palestinian state” sounds almost offensive at this point. The fact is that state will never truly enjoy independence so long as it is surrouned by a neo-Colonial power (Israel) on the one hand and ruled internally by a band of thugs on the other hand (Abbas and his cronies)….

Why on earth would statehood for Palestinians be offensive, and to whom? To Palestinians? Don’t they want their own country? Do they want to be a second-rate people forever, crying about oppression and obsessing about what Israel is doing every minute? Don’t they want to be a big grown-up nation and do the stuff the big countries do, like, um, have their own passports and stuff?

Parsing the statement more carefully, it appears the writer is saying Palestine cannot declare independence until Israel is destroyed and Abbas is out of power. How does the existence of Israel prevent Palestine from declaring independence? Can’t they basically, you know, just do it? This appears to be just another version of the “drive them into the sea” kill-all-Jews mentality that the western world finds so barbarian.

I have noticed that whenever the Palestinian leadership is expected to do something, whether it’s stoplights or fire hydrants, they trot the old Israel excuse, and suddenly the leadership is off the hook. Now how exactly would the existence of Israel keep Palestine from “enjoying” being a country? And how do they know unless they try? It’s just easier to say ‘oh, it never would have worked in the first place’, and blame it on Israel, when the fact of the matter is, although Palestine has fought numerous wars and two intifadas without any clear goals, the Palestinian leadership hasn’t lifted a finger towards statehood.

And why does the writer find Abbas so offensive? Cronyism is nothing new in the Arab world. Sometimes I think the Arabs created wasta, although when I look around at America’s political systems I see a more subtle form of it. Changing one particular leader isn’t going to change the way Arabs have been running things for years. If you want to change cronyism, it is the system that needs to be changed.