Designed to Fail
The
proposal to the Arab League yesterday is designed to fail for two reasons which can be found in the difference between Abdullah's speech and Friedman's Op-ed:
- Abdullah to Friedman: "full withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with U.N. resolutions, including in Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations[.]"
- Abdullah yesterday: "[a propoal to the UN] based on normal relationships and security to Israel and parallel with an independent Palestinian country with its capital Jerusalem and the right of Palestinian people to come back to their country."
The second is designed to fail because of the last part of the sentence. "[I]ts capital in Jerusalem." This is not in accord with any UN resolutions. Not now, not ever. Never once has the UN proposed that the capital of Palestine be Jerusalem in part or in whole. The original partition had Jerusalem protected and administered by the UN itself. The Israelis will never relinquish (unless perhaps Barak gets back in power but the Palestinian violence will most likely lead to Netanyahu being elected) Jerusalem totally to the Palestinians. Second, "right of Palestinian people to come back to their country." This has been a bone of contention on which Israel has always been intractable. In their view, the right of return would mean the destruction of Israel. No country would submit to this. These are not new issues and lumping them into the proposal, while not making any ground on peace, accomplishes two objectives for the Saudis alone.
- They become the moderate peace brokers in the middle east. A position previously held by Egypt, but since Mubarak has not gone to Beirut, the Saudis can claim the peace making initiative uncontested.
- The proposal gives Palestine everything it ever wanted (aside from the destruction of Israel) and thus firmly plants the Saudis as every bit as hard line as the other members of the Arab League.
The Saudis then posture as peacemakers, but offer nothing substantive. They get lauded in the western press and the Arab press. It will be interesting to see how the western leaders react to the Arab summit especially when the final proposal comes out. Note that the Saudi proposal will be reworked by the League and released after the Summit. That text should be interesting.
