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Israeli PM Olmert: Deal Now, Think Later…….

In interpreting the latest “blurbs for peace” coming from the mouth of Israel’s PM, Ehud Olmert, one could conclude that he believes that rushing into a deal, any deal, outweighs all other future concerns.

YNET: “Every day that goes by without our reaching a deal with the Palestinians is a day we may regret in the future, and I say this as a man who once had, and fought for very different ideas,” “If we don’t reach a deal fast we’ll be missing an opportunity, and missing that opportunity may come at an unbearable price.”

Such talk is very short sighted and proves why the PM is seen as a failure by the majority of Israelis, and why he is soon to be leaving office. The more realistic view of the situation would be that, the only way Israel can secure a real peace with the Palestinians, is when they, the Palestinians, are ready for it themselves.

When the Palestinians are ready for peace, it means (a) having already prepared their people for an eventual peace, meaning (b) that there has already been a noticeable time period where its media, mosques and schools have not incited its people to hate Jews, and (c) that means their children are not being brainwashed into the death cult of jihadi violence and suicide/homicide, and finally (d) there is a clear recognition of Israel and a desire to live in peace with it.

Any other Israeli “peace” policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians that falls short of these stated guidelines, will end in abysmal failure. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert is governing on borrowed time, hopefully he fails to put Israel into a similair position in the future, in which Israel finds itself living on borrowed time as well. More here. KGS

UPDATE: Al Avai adds: A story in the Herald Tribune used the concept of “bottom up”, to show that it is needed and also that it is now working, in Jenin. I think this is the sort of story we need to see here in the press — progress is a question of hard work on the ground, not a piece of paper with vague and lofty phrases.”
JENIN, West Bank: Pessimism is a steady companion these days for advocates of Middle East peace. A lame-duck Israeli government is negotiating with a weak Palestinian leadership in the twilight of an unpopular American administration. Few forecast success. But a quiet revolution is stirring here in this city, once a byword for the extremes of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. In 2002, in response to a wave of suicide bombers from Jenin, Israeli tanks leveled entire neighborhoods.
From that rubble, now newly trained and equipped Palestinian security officials have restored order. Israeli soldiers have pulled back from bases and are in close touch with their Palestinian colleagues. Civilians are planning economic cooperation — an industrial zone to provide thousands of jobs, mostly to Palestinians, and another involving organic produce grown by Palestinians and marketed in Europe by Israelis. Ministers from both governments have been visiting regularly, often joined by top international officials. Israeli Arabs are playing a key role.
The aim is to stand conventional wisdom on its head. Instead of a shaky negotiated peace treaty imposing coexistence from the top down, a bottom-up set of relationships that lock the two societies together should, proponents argue, lead to a real two-state solution.
“We got a clear American message that the Palestinian state will start from Jenin,” asserted Colonel Radi Asideh, the deputy commander of the Palestinian security forces here who have recently received new Land Rovers and AK-47 assault rifles. “The plan is to have a security model that can then be implemented all over Palestine.”
In other words, time should be spent in pursuing strategies like this, than running after Mahmoud Abbas with a pen and paper. KGS

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