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Ted Cruz Demands John F. Kerry's Resignation for Using the Word "Apartheid"

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lawhawk4/28/2014 6:13:14 pm PDT

re: #221 CuriousLurker

The US wont accept Palestinians’ unilaterally declaring statehood, and they’re not going to let the status quo drag on.

The real problem is that the US can’t determine the outcome here. It’s really out of US control, no matter how much money, prestige and effort is thrown their way.

Israel and Palestinians have got to want peace and make the hard choices, and neither side is particularly willing to trust the other.

Israel’s concerns are primarily the fact that Hamas refuses to recognize Israel’s rights, and Hamas’ longstanding claims and statements shade Israel’s view - disengagement was supposed to improve Israel’s peace and security, and Hamas turned Gaza into a terror state, that a security fence couldn’t reign in- not when the rockets, mortars, and missiles began flying around.

That and the fact that who exactly is Israel negotiating with? Fatah? Hamas? Both? Fatah is probably more likely to cut a deal (and they’ve been doing civil administrative control over the West Bank where it’s been pretty quiet for the most part since 2007, but that doesn’t address what happens with Gaza. You go from a 2-state solution to a 3-state one, if you keep Gaza/Hamas out of it.

Or if Hamas gets rolled back into the fold, then you’ve got the problems I note above - and that scuttles a deal unless Hamas is willing to do an about face on cutting a deal with Israel, which would likely spur the extremists within Hamas to splinter and call Hamas a bunch of sellouts (which I think is a near certainty for any peace deal as some - Israeli and Palestinian will try terrorism to undermine any deal because it threatens the status quo and the power that flows from the current situation).

The land swaps aren’t a problem. Settlements aren’t a problem. Even a limited right of return isn’t an issue. Heck, some kind of adjustments to Jerusalem’s border to accommodate two capitals side by side wouldn’t be impossible. Even defensible borders is a possibility, as is the ability to link Gaza with the West Bank.

But it has to take a sea change in views - on both sides. Palestinians and Israelis have got to want peace, and right now neither side is there.

Palestinians want Jerusalem as their capital, ignoring that Israel has rights to Jerusalem as well.