Palestinian unity has been smashed. Fatah is governing the West Bank and
compromising with Israel. The 10-foot-tall Palestinian enemy against which
Israel must defend itself with superpower-level armaments is beginning to look
like a midget, which raises a real problem:
What would happen if Israeli-Palestinian peace talks succeeded?
The expansionists and the militarists would be proven wrong. It would become incumbent upon both sides to live together in small crowded countries shoved right up next to each other. The excuse for establishing an Israeli national security state would be weakened; the excuse for constraining Palestinian democracy would be weakened. Politicians who make careers out of terrifying the voters would be faced with unemployment.
Tension harms everyone a little and helps a few a great deal. Peace may be nice for all but doesn’t help most people enormously. Therefore, peace has a hard time getting support. Most may of course prefer it, but it is the individuals who are hurt badly who complain, and peace hurts a few people a great deal.
So, what can be done about the threat, small though it may be, that Annapolis might actually produce peace? Here is a plan:
- Make it clear that the war against the whole population of Gaza will continue, e.g., by cutting oil supplies, preventing effective local self-government, disrupting travel to the rest of Palestine, and crippling their economy.
- Launch a few military strikes with collateral damage to keep Hamas properly infuriated.
- Throw acid in the face of moderates by announcing further Israeli settlements in the Palestinian part of Jerusalem.
Such a plan is guaranteed to split the ranks of Palestinians, make it impossible for moderates to compromise, ensure outbreaks of violence by frustrated patriots, and provide, in short, more than enough excuses so that the “failure of peace” can be blamed—at least to the satisfaction of the ignorant—squarely on the heads of the oppressed Palestinian people.
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