Headlines say ‘Kerry blames Israel’ – who would have dreamt it?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://972mag.com/headlines-say-kerry-blames-israel-who-would-have-dreamt-it/89460/

If the road to the UN was open to the Palestinians before, now there may as well be a red carpet on it.

It goes without saying that Kerry’s blaming of Israel for the blow-up in the peace talks is a great thing, a bigger win for the fight against the occupation than anyone could have expected to come out of this process. From the time about a year ago that these negotiations were a twinkle in Kerry’s eye, the name of the game for Israel and the Palestinians was to avoid being held responsible for their inevitable failure. The best anyone had a right to hope for was that the Americans would blame Israel off the record, but on Tuesday Kerry did it on TV in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee!

They must be delirious in the Muqata, the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in Ramallah. If the road to the UN was open to them before, now there’s almost a red carpet on it. This may or may not be the start of the endgame for Palestinian independence, and even if it is, it’s going to take years and be terribly painful for them, but whatever happens in the next stage of the conflict, the Palestinians start it with the wind clearly at their back.
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The U.S. is now trying to assure Israel that Kerry wasn’t playing the “blame game,” he was just giving a “factual account” of the events. But here’s the thing – when you give a factual account of events that begins with one side’s violation of the agreement (Israel’s refusal to release 26 prisoners as promised), followed by that same side’s provocation (the announcement of the new settlement units), followed by the other side’s violation (the Palestinians’ bid to join international treaties), then it’s clear to everyone you’re saying there’s a causal relationship between the initial moves by Israel and the one that followed by the Palestinians. In short, you’re blaming Israel.

I have always assumed that the road for Palestinian Independence would be a long, tough slog, but SoS Kerry's frank remarks of Israeli intransigence coupled with the world getting a little more annoyed with illegal settlements might just be the beginning of the endgame.

[babylonsister]

1. I don't know who to believe here, but I hope SoS Kerry is

making me proud. I have always respected him when so many didn't/don't. I think he is a man of honor and don't believe he'd do something that wasn't thought out.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

2. What's to believe vs not to?

Israelis have no right to occupy another people's land regardless of whether their great great great... whomever might have lived in the area 2,000 years ago.

Israeli apartheid needs to end, and the USA needs to stop enabling Israel to continue with it.


I agree that Kerry wouldn't say something unless he had thought it through, but it has taken the USA long enough to come to this realization. If Kerry has stated publicly the truths I wonder what he has said in private to Netanyahu.

[Scootaloo]

3. Well, all you need to believe is the facts

There was an agreement between Israel and Palestine.

Per this agreement, Israel would release 104 prisoners, all of them imprisoned prior to the 1993 Oslo agreements by March 29, 2014.

Per this agreement, Palestine would engage in bilateral talks with Israel, brokered by the US, and not unilaterally seek further recognition at the UN, until the deadline of negotiations April 29, 2014.

In late march, 2014, Israel began making noise about withholding the final 26 prisoners due for release. Israel wanted more concessions for their release. Israel formally declared it would not be releasing these prisoners as agreed. Israel broke their end of the deal. They weren't late, they weren't complaining or begrudging, they outright said, "we will not uphold our end of the agreement."

In response, Abbas recognizes that the agreement has been annulled by Israel, and begin the process of signing UN treaties and putting Palestine into UN institution.

I have not heard of any negotiated agreement that requires one side to do favors for the other, if the other violates the terms of the agreement. As a person who has engaged in union negotiations, I can't imagine trying to put some clause into a deal - "you have to do what we want even if we violate terms." Much less expect the other party to accept it.

[babylonsister]

4. Thanks for your insight, Scootaloo. I will try to watch this,

But you I like!

[4now]

5. Honesty about Israel is very rare in U.S.

To hear Kerry telling the truth about Israel is very refreshing.

[Jefferson23]

6. Kerry told the simple truth (Haaretz editorial )

The Israeli public deserves a government that clearly admits it has no desire for a peace agreement.

Haaretz Editorial | Apr. 10, 2014 | 1:28 AM |

One can only regret the American administration’s attempts, coated with praise for Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s government, to clarify and modify Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.

Describing the events leading to the collapse of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry said Israel had not released prisoners as it had pledged to do as part of the agreement to resume the talks, and had then approved tenders for constructing 700 new settlement units in East Jerusalem (which followed other huge tenders for accelerated construction in the settlements).

Kerry refuted the spin issued by Netanyahu’s office — that the talks broke down because Mahmoud Abbas had signed applications to join Palestine to 15 UN treaties. Kerry said this move, which he described as “not helpful,” came in response to the Israeli violations of the agreement, not as an intention to sabotage the talks. So Kerry was right to blame Israel with blowing up the talks.

His words hewed to the simple truth. Throughout the negotiations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has been busy spreading fog around his intentions and inventing spin tactics aimed at avoiding any significant decision. Housing Minister Uri Ariel and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have done everything they could to sabotage the talks. Finance Minister Yair Lapid made do with lip service to the peace process, while Justice Minister Tzipi Livni served as a fig leaf trying to cover Israel’s insincerity.

So instead of automatically blaming the Palestinians for the negotiations’ failure, they should ask themselves what their own part was in the foot-dragging and obstructionism in the talks, and how they helped create he pretense that Israel and the Palestinians are two state entities with equal military and economic status.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.584891