Lieberman strikes again
Ok, So Avigdor Lieberman’s comments on the prospects for peace are depressing. “Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong,†the NY Tines reports Mr. Lieberman saying. “It is the other way around; it will lead to more wars.†There is history to this idea that concessions have lead to substantial violence, but that is because the concessions were never made in good faith. While peace talks have come and gone, the constants have remained: continued weapons smuggling, expansion of settlements and checkpoints, racist propaganda, assasinations, rocket attacks on civilians, and on and on. So Lieberman is perhaps simply posturing, and his allusion to the 2003 roadmap could actually portend positive changes: he is hawkish enough to be able to stop the expansion of settlements, if he’s willing. He is hardline enough that he creates a space in the middle. He is unreasonable enough in his statements to make what concessions do come seem much more reasonable. I’m trying to be optimistic. If we take Lieberman at face value, then frankly, Israel and the Palestinians are screwed. I can only hope he’s playing the game at a higher level. It ain’t pretty, but maybe it’ll work.
Of course, some argue that this ridiculous government in Israel right now is doomed to failure anyway. Bloated politics may be standing in the way of peace in the Middle East and might even undermine Israel’s survival. When power becomes the raison d’etre for a state, it has not only lost its soul, it has lost its future, because power, as history teaches (and Jewish history certainly teaches), comes and goes. I am worried.
And Palestinian youth are worried too: 70% of them polled do not support violence as a solution to this conflict. 80% are depressed, and they are largely defining themselves by religion, rather than my national identity, which could be good or could be bad, depending on who engages these youth. Someone should, however, engage them. There are partners for peace out there, and the new foreign minister of Israel would do well to support, rather than antagonize them. As I’ve written about at length (and as common sense dictates), marginalized youth, when not engaged constructively, will certainly be engaged destructively.
On another note, this story about the Amish touring Crown Heights with the Hasidic community tickled me.
