Comment

Overnight Open Thread

799
drcordell3/09/2010 10:21:03 am PST

re: #785 Obdicut

I downdinged you just now for the ‘Duhhh’ thing, and for still avoiding the topic of the Arab states changing themselves and why you don’t think that’s possible, and for refusing to identify how, if the Arab states are inflaming the conflict, Israel could ever unilaterally solve the problem.

You really need me to explain why Arab states won’t magically turn into democracies overnight? Ok, here goes. The regimes in place have completely cemented themselves in power. They have the support of the United States Government. Egypt is the single largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. Jordan is number two.

We live in the year 2010. When was the last time you saw a popular uprising overthrow a government backed by a major world power? Been watching the news out of Iran lately? How’s that green revolution going? People’s revolutions hardly stand a chance against an entrenched government that can maintain a base of support. People with pitchforks and rocks in the streets don’t stand a chance against armies and police forces armed with modern technology.

The statement of fact that the Arab states surrounding Israel have repressive regimes firmly cemented in power is not a racist dig against Arabs. It’s a statement of FACT.

Now, that being said. The political powers that be of the surrounding Arab states don’t have any impetus to solve the Palestinian crisis. That does not mean that the Palestinians themselves do not. They are the ones who have motivation to help resolve the crisis, because they are the ones who are trapped in no-man’s land right now. If Israel takes the impetus to restart the peace process, the Palestinians have every motivation to follow suit. The Arab states do not, because they would lose their political football. But the Palestinian people have every reason to be motivated to end the conflict. Just as the Israeli people have every reason to be motivated to end the conflict. No more bloodshed. No more loss of innocent life.