Mike Pouraryan
OV Week_End III (3/7/2010): Today's Tidbits from the Middle East
March 7th 2010 21:46
:
Well!??!?
Iraqis went to the Poll. There was violence and some 35 people lost their lives. But the insurgents did not succeed. The reports I have seen show that the elections went well, was well organized and reasonably fair. It shows that the people are speaking with one voice--the need to change. Now the real work begins.
Iraq is a country that is frankly broken in many ways. People can't find jobs. The infrastructure is non-existent. More importantly, the Political leadership is mostly interested in perpetuating its own power structure than actually working to overcome and rebuild. Yet, I believe that the Iraqi People must be congratulated to have turned out in such force to speak for change.
But, there is also one more profound hotspot that should be of concern. George Mitchell is back in the Middle East to start indirect talks. My reaction was simply this: "whatever". The West Bank seems to have made a nascent recovery since 2007. But, land grabs continue. The Israeli Prime Minister has been apparently targeting Muslim Holy Sites. Illegal Settlements are continuing with token Israeli response. What is clear is that the Palestinians have done everything they can according to the roadmap. They have rebuilt institutions, stamped out corruption, began a concerted effort to rebuild their economy and are making progress. Joe Klein talked about in a recent Time Magazine Column he wrote when he was in the Middle East.
There is also a sublte shift by Hamas. Fawaz Gerges, one of the Pre-Eminent Middle East Scholars, has writen on the transformation onf Hamas in a recent edition of the Nation Magazine. He lays out how Hamas has continued to change its stance as it has contineud to rule Gaza. Khaled Mashal has said that that there is an entity called Israel. The Israeli Right and the Amen Crowd in the United States seem to not accept and understand that. Israel's current governing coaliton rejects a Palestinian State despite all the pronoucements that have been made since 1967. What is bothersome is that Israel wants International law to be applied to Iran--yet it exempts itself by virtue of its actions.
As Iraq reached a milestone, there is more challenges to come. The challenge for Iraq is whether the political elite of the country will have the courage to go beyond their narrow self-interest and work for the country and not take five months to form a government. The people of Iraq cannot afford any more disappointments. As for the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, I wish Senator Mitchell success. So far, it has been a utter failure. I have to wonder what will be achieved with this "indirect" approach after all the direct approaches so far. I also wonder what is preventing the United States from putting its' foot down and basically tell Israel that it has to change its ways. Senator Mitchell floated the idea of potentially taking away Israel's financial guarantee if Israel balked at making peace. He was crucified. What are choice is there left?
Iraq is a country that is frankly broken in many ways. People can't find jobs. The infrastructure is non-existent. More importantly, the Political leadership is mostly interested in perpetuating its own power structure than actually working to overcome and rebuild. Yet, I believe that the Iraqi People must be congratulated to have turned out in such force to speak for change.
But, there is also one more profound hotspot that should be of concern. George Mitchell is back in the Middle East to start indirect talks. My reaction was simply this: "whatever". The West Bank seems to have made a nascent recovery since 2007. But, land grabs continue. The Israeli Prime Minister has been apparently targeting Muslim Holy Sites. Illegal Settlements are continuing with token Israeli response. What is clear is that the Palestinians have done everything they can according to the roadmap. They have rebuilt institutions, stamped out corruption, began a concerted effort to rebuild their economy and are making progress. Joe Klein talked about in a recent Time Magazine Column he wrote when he was in the Middle East.
There is also a sublte shift by Hamas. Fawaz Gerges, one of the Pre-Eminent Middle East Scholars, has writen on the transformation onf Hamas in a recent edition of the Nation Magazine. He lays out how Hamas has continued to change its stance as it has contineud to rule Gaza. Khaled Mashal has said that that there is an entity called Israel. The Israeli Right and the Amen Crowd in the United States seem to not accept and understand that. Israel's current governing coaliton rejects a Palestinian State despite all the pronoucements that have been made since 1967. What is bothersome is that Israel wants International law to be applied to Iran--yet it exempts itself by virtue of its actions.
As Iraq reached a milestone, there is more challenges to come. The challenge for Iraq is whether the political elite of the country will have the courage to go beyond their narrow self-interest and work for the country and not take five months to form a government. The people of Iraq cannot afford any more disappointments. As for the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, I wish Senator Mitchell success. So far, it has been a utter failure. I have to wonder what will be achieved with this "indirect" approach after all the direct approaches so far. I also wonder what is preventing the United States from putting its' foot down and basically tell Israel that it has to change its ways. Senator Mitchell floated the idea of potentially taking away Israel's financial guarantee if Israel balked at making peace. He was crucified. What are choice is there left?
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