Palestinian-Israeli Peace : Painting by Numbers.

By : KHAIRI JANBEK.

As someone whose interest in political matters has become cursory at best, I still wonder sometimes; in the manner of old habits dying hard, how the current Obama administration is still trying to put old wine in new bottles, or perhaps, new wine in old bottles.

For a start 1) The concept of bridging the gaps between the Palestinians and the Israelis is rediculous from the start. As the old adage goes " In peace time bridges get trampled upon, and in times of war; they get blown up". 2) The Obama administration must show bluntly; both the Palestinians and the Israelis, that the US strategic interests are not always one and the same as those of Israel, though the baggage of the last 50 years or so, shows otherwise. There are some pundits in the US whom keep trying to convey the mnessage that Israel may well be hurting the US strategic interests in the region, but the case up till now, shows a continuity in convergence of interests. 3) Regarding Jerusalem, the Obama administration should shift its vision of talking in terms of real estate; I mean the sub-prime crisis should call the point home (just joking), and make Israel understand that, the holy zone in the city, cannot be administred by one religious authority to the exclusion of others. The Wadi Araba Agreement stipulates so, and Israel must stick to the letter of this agreement.

4) The Obama administration wishes to involve the Arab world in trying to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. One is positive that the majority of the Arab countries would want to be involved in reviving the possibilities of peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, but at the same time, they would want to be sure about the levels of committment of the US to the peace process, and the viability of the plan of action; which till now still seems nebulous, even in the minds of the most optimistic Arabs. 5) President Obama needs the Arabs in his adminsitration's plans to pressurise Iran over its nuclear programme. As Wikileaks documents show, many of the Arabs are also sharing the Washington administration's concerns over the issue, at times even worse concerns. Here also, the Arab allies of the US are not sure of the level of American committment and its next move against Iran. They would not want naturally ; unless I am mistaken totally, to be left in the lurch against Iran if or when the US reaches a compromise with Tehran. I don't know if politcis is the art of the possible any longer, but in this department Mr. Netanyahu can play a great role if he just attempts to open his mind a little, to the notion of give and take. He started his life as a New York businessman, so the notion should come natural to him, yet he is acting like someone who is owning a farm. Mind you maybe he is becoming just another Middle East leader.

6) washington talks about democracy and democratisation in the Arab world, yet at the same time, it totally disregards the notion of Arab public opinion and prefers to have push-button decisions made at the top to be filtered down to the bottom of the political power pyramid in the Arab countries. And still there are Americans whom say, why do they hate us?. Sure American money is poured into many Arab countries, and plenty of political support is given to many others, but at the end of the day, for the Arab people, they only hear about wealth which they cannot relate to.

I know I have raised many issues which I think they are faulty. I haven't provided one iota of an attempted solution. Well, because I think the last time I attempted to talk about a solution, I ended up here in Paris as a consequence.