If the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is at the "epicenter" of all America's global problems, then it stands to reason that something must be done about it. Is Israel listening?
National Security Advisor General James Jones recently stated that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the “epicenter” of America’s problems worldwide. This remark, not only highly insightful for a top Washington policy advisor but also—in the context of the spineless Washington response to the Goldstone Report—was stunningly politically incorrect. If the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is at the epicenter of all America’s problems, then it is incumbent upon our Israeli ally to allow Palestinians their freedom. No friend of the world’s only superpower could seriously contemplate aggravating the full range of the superpower’s global responsibilities for the sake of its own narrow political advantage, nor could it rationally imagine that a superpower worth its salt would seriously contemplate allowing a remote and tiny client state to behave so abusively.
Americans, not to mention Israelis, should think carefully about Jones’ remark. He did not say the Palestine conflict was the most important problem but the "epicenter." Of course, the disintegration of Pakistan or a nuclear attack on Iran would be a more serious problem per se, but neither is at the center of the whole Western conflict with Islam. Only the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has that particular characteristic of inflaming everyone's passions and striking everyone as egregiously immoral.
Washington’s support for Israeli repression of the Palestinian people is a political cancer infecting every global issue that touches any Muslim, any minority, any third world group, anyone who cares about human rights. General Jones has sent a clear signal that the Goldstone Report needs to be taken seriously and that it is time for Israel to think about the global implications of its misbehavior.
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