http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/16-8
Published on Thursday, July 16, 2009 by Electronic Intifada
Obama's Prizes for Israel Are Not 'Pressure'
by Ali Abunimah
On 13 July, President Barack Obama received 16 leaders of the most
prominent pro-Israel organizations at the White House. The gathering
was an effort to assuage American Jewish concerns about US pressure
on Israel over a settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank.
One participant argued that in the past any progress toward peace has
only been made when there was "no light" between American and Israeli
positions. "I disagree," the president responded according to one
witness, and pointed out that during eight years of the Bush
administration, "there was no light between the United States and
Israel, and nothing got accomplished."
Obama reaffirmed his commitment to achieving a settlement to the Arab-
Israeli conflict and emphasized the short window and special
opportunity that he had to produce one given his outreach efforts to
Arabs and Muslims.
All of this will reinforce the faith of those convinced that Obama's
policies mark a decisive shift from his predecessors, a rupture in
the Israeli-American relationship, and can produce what has eluded
all others: a workable and agreed two-state solution.
Obama has consistently stressed his belief in the "unbreakable" US-
Israeli relationship. Considering his actions and words so far, there
is little reason to doubt him. But unless he is prepared to go much
further than anyone has publicly contemplated in pressuring Israel,
his peace initiative has negligible chances of success.
For months the focus has been on Obama's demand that Israel agree to
a complete cessation of settlement construction, including the
subterfuge called "natural growth." It was during a similar "freeze"
in the early 1990s that Israel built thousands of settler housing
units on occupied land. Arab optimism and Israeli anxiety were
amplified as Obama and his Middle East Envoy George Mitchell said
repeatedly that this time they wanted a total halt.
Yet the firmness shows signs of erosion. Israeli press reports spoke
of a "compromise" taking shape in which Israel would be allowed to
complete thousands of already planned housing units. Although those
reports were denied by the United States, several participants in the
White House meeting said Obama alluded to an unspecified compromise
in the works.
Anything short of a complete cessation of settlement construction
will mark an achievement for Israel; what is important is not the
number of units the United States may approve, but the principle that
this administration, like its predecessors, will license Israel's
illegal colonization. Once that principle is established, Israel may
present more faits accomplis and build at will.
And even if Israel does agree to a verifiable cessation, the US has
structured the matter as a quid pro quo in which Israel is not
required to do anything without receiving a reward. The president has
appealed to Arab states to normalize ties with Israel if it freezes
settlements, including opening diplomatic missions and allowing
overflights by El Al aircraft (recall that when en route to bomb
Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981, Israeli warplanes reportedly falsely
identified themselves as commercial aviation). Given how little
leverage the Arab side has, it would be totally disarmed if it
conceded any such gestures in exchange for so little.
Israel's settlements violate numerous UN Security Council resolutions
and the Fourth Geneva Convention. It should no more be rewarded for
ending settlement construction than Iraq should have been rewarded
for withdrawing from Kuwait after Iraq invaded in 1990. While today
US-occupied, war-torn Iraq is still paying Kuwait billions of dollars
annually in compensation for a seven-month long occupation that ended
almost two decades ago, the US is offering Israel prizes not for
ending a 42-year-old occupation but merely for ceasing to commit some
crimes.
This can hardly be described as anything other than a net gain for
Israel, especially since the settlement project is reaching its
natural conclusion. There are already 500,000 settlers in the West
Bank, who with their infrastructure consume more than 42 percent of
the land. Nothing Obama has ever said indicates he will deviate from
his predecessors' policy of recognizing these facts and demanding
that Palestinians agree to let Israel keep settlements already built.
While all the attention is focused on the freeze, Israel maintains
its siege of Gaza -- despite Obama's calls to loosen it -- and
continues to build the West Bank wall five years after the
International Court of Justice ordered it torn down. The United
States itself continues to undermine chances for intra-Palestinian
reconciliation, and therefore credible negotiations, by fueling the
smoldering civil war between US-backed Palestinian militias on the
one hand and resistance factions led by Hamas on the other.
On the outside Israelis may be crying about US "pressure" but on the
inside they must be quietly smiling.
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