Special Envoy Mitchell to Jewish Groups: Settlements Are Back on the Table

by Charles Lenchner

category: Middle East

Published February 20, 2009 @ 02:46PM PT

George Mitchell, Obama's envoy to the Middle East peace process, has a problem: right wing pro-occupation Jewish groups don't like his reputation for fairness. So it's interesting to read the report by Politico claiming that:

The pro-Israel wing of Obama's supporters has generally been pretty happy with the state of the administration, from Hillary's appointment to Dennis Ross' role with Iran. George Mitchell, by downplaying Israeli settlements and stressing Iran policy yesterday, won raves from hawkish Jewish leaders.

Sources from the Jewish peace camp say that Politico is full of it. On a special call held yesterday between Mitchell and American-Jewish organizations, a special point was made to invite the pro-peace groups like J Street, Americans for Peace Now, and the Israel Policy Forum. In response to questions, Mitchell made it clear that he sees the issue of Israeli settlements as central to moving foward. Translation: no more free pass for Israel as it disregards past commitments to stop building and expanding them. (Um, because they are all illegal.)

Note that Dennis Ross, the darling of the 'blame Arabs everything' policy community was f i n a l l y appointed to something or other. What was it? Dennis who?

Finally, let's celebrate the appointment of Chas Freeman to the head of the National Intelligence Council. Read, with unmitigated pleasure, the words of wisdom he has offered in the past while looking forward to more....

In retrospect, Al Qaeda has played us with the finesse of a matador exhausting a great bull by guiding it into unproductive lunges at the void behind his cape. By invading Iraq, we transformed an intervention in Afghanistan most Muslims had supported into what looks to them like a wider war against Islam. We destroyed the Iraqi state and catalyzed anarchy, sectarian violence, terrorism, and civil war in that country.

Meanwhile, we embraced Israel's enemies as our own; they responded by equating Americans with Israelis as their enemies. We abandoned the role of Middle East peacemaker to back Israel's efforts to pacify its captive and increasingly ghettoized Arab populations. We wring our hands while sitting on them as the Jewish state continues to seize ever more Arab land for its colonists. This has convinced most Palestinians that Israel cannot be appeased and is persuading increasing numbers of them that a two-state solution is infeasible. It threatens Israelis with an unwelcome choice between a democratic society and a Jewish identity for their state. Now the United States has brought the Palestinian experience – of humiliation, dislocation, and death – to millions more in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israel and the United States each have our reasons for what we are doing, but no amount of public diplomacy can persuade the victims of our policies that their suffering is justified, or spin away their anger, or assuage their desire for reprisal and revenge.

It has generally been thought wise in both politics and foreign affairs to try to divide one's enemies, not to unite them. But our actions and rhetoric have served to persuade a very large majority of Muslims that we are engaged in a global assault on them and their faith. American relations with the Islamic world, especially the fifth of it that is Arab, have never been as hostile or mutually disrespectful. Our television and radio talk shows, aimed at domestic audiences, are heard abroad. In discussion among ourselves we routinely equate Islam with terrorism. This has made it even harder for Muslim friends of the United States openly to cooperate with us in opposing the extremists who are our common enemies.

Goodbye Neo-cons! Don't come back ever, y'hear?