Recognition is a game, what will matter will be the borders

Submitted by Jonathan Pfeffer (Canada), Jun 25, 2006 at 22:37

Daniel, you may be wrong about Olmert. He does play this game with the Palestinians concerning recognition, but I really don't think he is sincere on this point. And his participation in this game of recognition is a phoney game.

You are absolutlely right about the pointlessness of recognition, but Olmert as well as Sharon before him only use this as part of a maneuvering game designed ultimately to define Israel. The demand for recognition is an excuse.

Omert knows that Israel's strategy is a 4 step process.

1. Separate Jews and Arabs, as best as possible.

2. Erect a boundary based on security concerns and pending permanent negotiations.

3. Allow the borders to cement over time.

This will morph the world's perception of the conflict from a refugee issue to a border dispute. Give the Palestinians the rope they need to stop serious negotiations and keep the final borders always in the future while not having Israel take the blame for the delays.

This strategy works because it denies the Palestinians what they need to keep the conflict going. What keeps the Arab claim to parts of Israel going in the world's eyes, is the intermingling of the unsettled Palestinians with Jews. The Palestinians won't get on with their lives as long as this conflict remains primarily a refugee issue. Once it becomes a border dispute, the world's perception changes.

No-one says, we'd better boycott the Russians because they have annexed huge tracts of Poland in 1945. Or we'd better condemn Britian because Argentina claims the Malvinas. Why? Because these are political boundary disputes. Ultimately these disputes tend to get settled based on where people live, now, not where their grandparents lived several generations ago.

You have heard of the humiliated, enraged Palestinian youth, enraged over the occupation. Have you ever heard of the humiliated and enraged Palestinian throwing stones at a wall because he doesn't like where the boudary is.

Human conflict derives from human suffering and perceived exploitation. Get everyone on their own side of a wall and there is no more perceived exploitation.

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