This is what the individual players assembled at Annapolis for the latest Middle East “peace conference” keep saying, indicating a wishful hope for “progress.” President Bush has said “things have changed,” as have the Israelis, the Syrians, and the Palestinians.
Maybe they are right. Maybe things HAVE changed. Let’s see. What’s different now?
Well, Yassir Arafat is gone, but he’s been replaced by Mahmoud Abbas, who’s as much of a terrorist as Arafat ever was. Abbas was, after all, Arafat’s top lieutenant. His Fatah party routinely murders Israelis.
What else has changed?
Iran now speaks openly of annihilating Israel and is tirelessly and relentlessly working on the nuclear weapons to do it. Iran has armed and trained Hezbollah and stationed them on Israel’s northern border. They have already instigated one proxy war against Israel, and are strengthening themselves for another. Today, they’ve got ever-longer range missiles that can reach Israel and beyond.
Another change? The terrorist group Hamas is now firmly in power in Gaza, using their good offices to launch strikes against Israel. It is now also getting support from Tehran.
What else is different? Once democratic Lebanon is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Syria and Iran, controlled by their terrorist colleagues of Hezbollah. Syria is also now the beneficiary of North Korean nuclear know-how.
So yes, the president and the Annapolis attendees are correct: things ARE different now. Just not in ways conducive to a “peace process.”
One thing that hasn’t changed? The Saudi delegation (surprise!—they showed up) still refuse to shake the hands of the Israeli delegation. Obvious question: if you can’t even shake hands, how are you going to settle an epic millennial conflict?
It wouldn’t be the tail end of an American presidency without one final, dramatic stab at trying to settle the Arab-Israeli problem. But alas, this conference will end up the way all of the previous ones have for one simple reason: as long as one party will not accept the right of the other party to exist, there is no “process” as there is no “peace.”
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