By taking equally energetic, clear stands regarding settlements and the definition of refugees, the international community can lay the groundwork for the resumption of serious negotiations on two states for two peoples, with these obstacles much reduced in their power to obstruct peace. Read more: Who is a refugee? | Ed Rettig | Ops & Blogs
Putting it all together, several tentative conclusions suggest themselves. The government can do things to correct the distorted credit market that is throttling economic development. It can find ways to free up more land for construction while cutting red tape and bringing down the cost of housing. It can open the market to greater competition
Many say that the peace process is at a standstill. This is mistaken, since nothing stands still in the politics of the Middle East. A more accurate formulation is that the peace process is in retreat. Among the Palestinians, the Abbas-Fayyad government continues to work on building infrastructure for statehood, but its leaders look across
Last week Jerusalem and Ramallah vividly displayed their respective dysfunctions. The Knesset passed a law requiring a referendum on withdrawal from Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, areas that have been legally incorporated into Israel. Not to be outdone, the Fatah party’s Revolutionary Council (described as its highest “legislative” body) issued yet another provocative declaration rejecting
A new and insidious myth in now emerging in some of the coverage of the re-launch of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians: that Israelis are indifferent to peace. Probably the most widely-circulated version of the tale was “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace,” the cover story by Karl Vick in Time magazine on September
We appear to be on the cusp of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Years ago, a moment like this would have seemed pregnant with hope and excitement. Today, responses to the news coverage vary between gray and blasé. At this moment it may be worthwhile to recall something of the spirit of
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, at heart, a battle of identities. We are not just two nations competing for land, but, more significantly, two competing narratives of national liberation. That is what makes compromise so excruciating and explains the zero-sum view that so many advocates worldwide take. It also helps explain why this relatively diminutive standoff,
In 2001 I wrote this article about a fundamental misunderstanding of the conflict that Palestinian negotiators brought to Camp David. Has this changed?
