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Another Tack: But to do and die
Most Israelis paid scant attention to the mini-spectacle staged - in part to impress them - at Annapolis. Their prime minister's predictable court-commentators told them that the triumph of the pageant resides in the very fact that the curtain was raised, that the principal players at all showed up and that they obligingly recited their lines to the duly summoned audience, some of whose reluctant Arab members were successfully cajoled and bribed to put in an appearance. Having been reassured that G.W. Bush has their best interests at heart and that he cares deeply about their security and well-being, most Israelis switched off and returned unperturbed to their daily grind. They didn't pause to take offense, though they should have smarted with a searing sense of insult. The American president, hailed as their country's "best friend" (a much-misused and tattered label previously pinned wrongheadedly on inimical meddlers like Jimmy Carter and slick shysters like Bill Clinton), read out the text of the Annapolis declaration, which pro forma at least was composed with the consent of our own valiant and vigorous guardian of Israel's most vital interests, the inimitable Ehud Olmert. And what was the bottom line of that declaration, the one that should have left Israelis howling with indignation? It was - enveloped in saccharine sentiment about the perks of peace - that they are officially considered incompetents and/or suspected charlatans. Therefore, to preempt the benighted natives' chicanery, "the United States will monitor and judge the fulfillment of the commitment of both sides to the road map." The fact that our only allies believe that the conflict can be resolved by negotiation is worrying enough Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2007-12-08 |
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