.
I know when most people think of the conflict between Israel and Palestine not many people are drawn to the year 1963. However, 1963 (April to be exact) was the year that President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi dies in office and Kadish Luz, Speaker of the Knesset, (THAT was the first time in Israel’s history that had occurred)becomes acting President.[1] The charter for the most violent and bloody government of the Middle East was drafted “under Egyptian auspices following an agreement at the Arab Summit Conference in 1963 by Ahmed Shukairy”[2] that organization was the P.L.O. (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ was awarded its Oscars. No matter where I looked, I witnessed the match being lit that started the firestorm and bloodbath that is the ‘Modern Day’ Arab Israeli conflict.
.
[caption id="attachment_1225" align="aligncenter" width="630"]
Flag Of Israel[/caption].
Please note, My Dear Readers, that I made a special effort to note that this was the beginning of the ‘Modern Day’ Israeli-Arab/Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Arabs have been trying to slaughter Jews since Abraham brought Isaac down from Mount Moriah.[3] Maybe that’s a little strong, let’s say within months since they came down. 1963 saw the beginnings of the Palestinian Liberation Organization or P.L.O. An organization that, for the next 40+ years, and specifically under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, shed more Jewish blood than in any other time except the Holocaust.
So it was 1963 when yours truly, Danny Hanning, began reading and learning about this Arab-Jewish conflict. Several times, in the past 50 years, I have been delighted to see Democrat Presidents of the United States involve themselves in the Middle East and do their best to bring peace. In 1978 it was then United States President Jimmy Carter that, after 17 days of secret negotiations, brokered what is now known as the ‘Camp David Peace Accord’. It was the ‘Camp David Accords’ that earned Pres. Carter his ‘Nobel Peace Prize’. And it was well deserved.
With the Camp David Accords President Carter had laid the very foundation for the acceptance of the state of Israel by any member of the ‘League of Arab States’. (Egypt recognized Israel and it ended the Egypt-Israel War) There is a organization not many of you, My Dear Readers, have ever heard of I am willing to bet. Founded in Cairo in 1945 this League’s beginnings is actually depicted in the movie I mentioned above ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. The Arab League was not forming to eradicate the Israeli people and destroying the Jewish state of Israel. The P.L.O. (for many years) made the eradication of the Jewish State its #1 priority and it was written into their charter . However, I digress.
in just the past six months Secretary of State Kerry has made six trips to the Middle East and an effort to broker the restart of the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Secretary of State Kerry met, on July 17, with nine of the members of the Arab League who support an Arab-Israeli peace plan as proposed by Saudi Arabia. Another very good sign of promising peace, resulting from these talks, is that the now Palestinian leader Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is part of the old P.L.O. (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and not Hamas.
.
[caption id="attachment_1226" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Palistine flag[/caption].
I know this might be somewhat confusing for some of you, My Dear Readers. I do not mean to be insulting, and I apologize if I’ve come even close! It’s just, you see, that for decades we all thought the PLO was the most horrible group of people and we could not negotiate peace with the PLO. That was, until Hamas showed its teeth, and then gained political power, only to engage in intransigence and shelling of innocent Jewish people.
America, and the world, once having to deal with Hamas (as a political power) has given myself and a lot of other people a lot more respect and understanding of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. [As well? Just a side note from me, Danny, but every since Yasser Arafat died… well, the P.L.O. has ‘mellowed’ in its old age. Hammas is the kurr dog looking for blood and the P.L.O. has become the older and wiser body.] You see one really important difference, this time, is that Mahmoud Abbas has been able to put aside a lot of the small and irritating roadblocks that Palestinian (Hamas)negotiators, in the past, had put in place. With the intransigent members of Hamas not present and the new leader of the Palestinian people working to remove all these old roadblocks. Secretary Kerry has cleared the way for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
.
All of Kerry’s shuttle diplomacy trips, and the concessions Mahmoud Abbas made, have given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all the political cover he needs to resume the broken down talks of 2008.[4] My Dear Readers, it has been that long since these two parties have sat at the same table with the agenda Arab-Israeli peace. After; five long years, the election of Hama as a political party, and some of the worst and bloodiest shelling of Israeli Jewish people in this century. The pendulum has definitely swung back, towards peace. If by fate we have a Democrat as President. A Democrat President that has expressed strong interest in reengaging these parties in deliberate peace talks. [I am not trying to ‘score’ any political points. Honest I have made a promise to myself, and several of My Dear Readers, to stop being polarizing politically and speak more of policy. I have, in the past, inadvertently offended people I deeply respect. I do not want to do that every again. As well, I want no part of the hyper partisanship that is harming our great nation and dividing friends and family]
.
In just the last few hours Secretary Kerry, in what seems to be an incredible coup de grass has appointed Martin Indyk as a special envoy and head of the U.S. team that is helping broker the deal. Martin Indyk is the former US Ambassador to Israel under President Clinton.[5] It is almost like Secretary Kerry is ‘staking the deck’ before tonight’s meeting. That’s right, My Dear Readers, you are getting Real Time foreign affairs news right here @ The Other Shoe. While I was writing, and while you are reading (if it is still Monday night 7/29/13) you and I are experiencing history together! Right now, tonight!
.
Well, I want to get this published and up for everyone to see. I just really wanted to put up an article, for the first time, while the news was happening. However, now that I have breeched this subject with you, My Dear Readers, you can look forward to me discussing this more, in our future. I promise to make this all about policy and do my LEVEL BEST not to take political sides. Least I offend some of you, and I respect you all!
.
Thank you. Thank you for dropping by. Thank you for reading. Each and every time you come to The Other Shoe you honor me. For that, I can just say (again)…
“Thank YOU!”
[…] Secretary of State John Kerry Breaths Life Into Palestinian-Israeli Peace Talks! : “Welcome back, My Dear Readers, to The Other Shoe. Today, My Dear Readers, I have the joy of writing about a subject very dear to my heart. This particular subject is a subject that I have; read about, thought about, and talked about a great deal since I was a boy of six in 1963. The subject (that is so very dear to my heart?) is My Dear Readers, Israeli and Palestinian peace!” This is the direction I want to take my blog(s). No longer do I want to add to the din of hyper-partisnaship that has swept through our great nation like a plague of locust. It is my honest and heartfelt desire to talk about POLICY and not Politics. This change has come about by me listening to YOU! My Dear Readers, so many of you have told me (in comments and emails) you are all so very tired of the political partisanship that seems the lifeblood of the media. Granted, our Forefathers wanted partisanship in our Democracy. It was supposed to keep politicians true. However, I fear that it has been bastardized (by both parties) to the point that ‘partisanship’ no longer fills the need. Only ‘Hyper-Partisanship’ will do. I reject that premise and I have made a conscience change. Form this time forward I will work diligently to only talk about our nation’s policies and not point fingers anymore. Honestly, I have many people that I love and respect that are Republicans. I respect them, not in spite of our differences but because of them. […]
ReplyDelete