Watching President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel in Prescott, Arizona, with Arizona native Joe Benites, a Mexican-American, I was asked what I thought about the “lasting, real and ultimate deal” that will bring peace to Israel being bandied around by Trump and the various pundits on T.V.
The question was raised as we compared how America forced a peace treaty on Mexico that made Mexico give up Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas that has created lasting resentment and animosity between the two nations and peoples to this day. For Americans to think America can do the same with Israel and the Palestinians is an “alternative fact.”
I grew up in Cyprus and Israel – two countries in the Middle East that have endured wars and conflicts for centuries – between Christians, Jews, Muslims and Pagans. Empires have fought over the Holy Land and the Middle East for centuries and yet there has never been a “lasting” peace. I am doubtful there will be one any time soon, but am hopeful and reserve the right to be wrong.
I understand America’s strategy of trying to get Sunni Muslim countries under the leadership of Saudi Arabia to work with Israel to defeat ISIS, contain Iran and try and force a peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The emergence of a nuclear Shia Iran that has been fighting its neighbors since biblical times is a worry – and has forced its Arab neighbors to grudgingly embrace Israel as a military partner – a difficult thing to do as long as the Israelis and Palestinians are at war with each other.
Peace between Israel and the Palestinians is therefore an understandable desirable goal and pre-condition that will enable Israel’s Arab neighbors to also make peace with Israel and recognize it as a legitimate state and partner.
The concern and anxiety a nuclear Iran has caused its Arab neighbors is a welcome boost to the peace process, but not enough as long as Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and continues to echo Iran’s call for Israel’s destruction. To make matters worse, the Palestinian Authority’s continued financial support of the families of suicide bombers is also a real obstacle to peace.
Another real obstacle to peace is 82-year old Mahmoud Abbas. He is unpopular with his own people, “suffering a crisis of legitimacy,” has never put a peace offer on the table and doesn’t want to acknowledge or accept a Jewish Zionist Democracy as a neighbor. The Palestinian conflict is his cash cow to fight the hated Jews and legitimacy.
The Palestinians have enormous incentives not to separate from Israel no matter what concessions Israel makes – Gaza being a prime example. Israel gave up Gaza to the Palestinians in exchange for peace and got more war instead.
The history of Palestine and Palestinians — and the fact that there never was a Palestinian nation or language — and how Palestinians have been used by Arab countries to perpetuate the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Israel, are topics I discuss at length in Custom Maid Spin and Custom Maid Knowledge.
President Trump does have a better chance than his predecessors to negotiate a collective regional peace. The Palestinian obstacles to peace can only be removed if enough financial and political pressure is exerted by the Sunni coalition led by Saudi Arabia – not America.
There is no upside to America forcing a peace on Israel the way it did on Mexico.