RUTHIE BLUM: DROWNED OUT BY DIPLO-SPEAK
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=8663 Drowned out by diplo-speak
The 14th annual Herzliya Conference kicked off on Sunday, with esteemed members of the local and foreign political, military and business communities in attendance. This year’s three-day gathering, titled “Israel and the Future of the Middle East,” happened to take place on the heels of the formation of a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas.
Within hours of the swearing in of the new government last Monday, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations welcomed the move with open arms. While quietly mumbling the need to make ongoing financial aid to the Palestinians conditional on a renouncement of terrorism, the international community shouted platitudes about the new opportunities for peace that internal Palestinian reconciliation has opened up.
Indeed, as the Herzliya Conference entered its first round of morning sessions, Rober Serry, the U.N.’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, was off in Gaza, pledging his organization’s ongoing support for the nascent Palestinian government. During his jaunt, he met with the freshly appointed ministers of women’s affairs, labor, public works, and housing and justice.
After warmly congratulating the four Hamas officials, Serry assured them that the U.N. was prepared to increase its cooperation and assistance in the “many practical challenges ahead.”
That evening, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso delivered the keynote address at the Herzliya Conference. Comparing current strife in the Middle East to that of Europe in the past, he explained why it was necessary for everyone to endorse the new Palestinian government, and for Israel to make painful concessions.
“If we received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, it was because the nations of Europe finally succeeded in breaking the vicious circle of military offensives and retaliation that was the driving force behind Europe’s history for ages,” he said.
“It is worth remembering the spirit that was behind the steps towards European integration from the first moments: a spirit of ‘lessons learned’ through hardship and war; a spirit of inevitable reconciliation; a spirit of grasping the future together. … Some of those elements are present in the Middle East peace process as well: difficult but inevitable steps towards reconciliation that need to be taken, age-old oppositions that need to be addressed, concrete achievements that serve to rebuild trust.”
Yes, he said, “peace is necessary in the region. Security for Israel and a state for the Palestinians are moral imperatives for the entire international community. Meanwhile, no actions should be taken that would jeopardize the viability of a two-state solution. We are deeply concerned that continued settlement activity renders more remote the two-state solution that is in Israel’s fundamental interest.”
He also stressed that “any Palestinian government should uphold the principle of non-violence [and accept] previous agreements and obligations, including Israel’s legitimate right to exist. Palestinian reconciliation … if done in strict adherence to [those] principles … will not in any way give a voice to terrorists. On the contrary, it will help our aim of isolating and marginalizing terrorists and their misguided and destructive actions.”
The new Palestinian government was not listening, however. It was too busy celebrating yet another strategic victory over Israel and the West.
No sooner had Barroso finished his speech in Herzliya, than the residents of Ashkelon (less than an hour’s drive away) were treated to air raid sirens that preceded a rocket explosion, courtesy of the terrorists in Gaza.
Nor was this the only message from Hamas on Sunday about the true nature of the new unity government.
As Palestinian Media Watch reports, Ihab al-Ghussein — the official government spokesman for Hamas until last week — posted the following description of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ double dealings on his Facebook page:
“You know what Mahmoud Abbas says behind closed doors? He says: ‘Guys, let me [continue] saying what I say to the media. Those words are meant for the Americans and the occupation [Israel], not for you [Hamas]. What’s important is what we agree on among ourselves.’ In other words, when I go out and say that the government is my government and it recognizes ‘Israel’ and so on, fine — these words are meant to trick the Americans. But we agree that the government has nothing to do with politics [foreign relations]. The same thing happened in 2006, he [Abbas] said: ‘Don’t harp on everything I tell the media, forget about the statements in the media.’
Come on! The problem really isn’t with him [Abbas]; the problem is with whoever believes him. Ha, ha, ha! (I really do want real reconciliation, meaning partnership and achieving unity, but not reconciliation as Abbas means it).”
One doesn’t need the Facebook rants of a disgruntled, outgoing Hamas representative to know that Abbas is pulling the wool over the eyes of the Israeli and international peace camp. The Palestinian National Charter says it all, and the PA-controlled media and education system disseminate it, with the help of multi-millions of dollars and euros, in broad daylight.
“Ha, ha, ha,” writes al-Ghussein about the patsies who put their faith in Abbas.
But they cannot hear him in Herzliya over the din of diplo-speak.
Ruthie Blum is the author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring.'”
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