Flotillas, Helen, and the unattainable "peace."

Yes, I've been aware of Helen Thomas' recent comments. She didn't just lose her press seat at the White House, her publicity company (a big beltway outfit) dropped her - in the middle of publishing here memoirs (version III I think); an upcoming graduation speech was canceled; and the book publisher itself pulled the plug. She's half Lebanese if I remember correctly (just for some background context). Her comments were simply vile. You can Google the off the cuff interview but basically she was asked to respond to the Flotilla raid and her answer was that they (Israel) were an occupying force and should "leave." The interviewer had the presence of mind to ask, "and go where?", to which she responded, "Poland, Germany, America, wherever they came from." Ya, Jews love the idea of Poland & Germany as a homeland, right? Good Lord. Titus is right, she's not just a bigot, she's an idiot. And her sentiments bring me to my response on the Outremers ...

Look, I appreciate the history lesson (that was sincere, no dig); but the problem with drawing upon historical parallels for guidance (of which I am a big fan, don't get me wrong), is this is a unique scenario, unlike any other, leaving us with zero precedent. And I don't say that lightly given the breadth and scope of recorded human experience these last five millinea. Let me explain.

The peace Israel enjoys with Egypt, for example, came after Egypt and Israel went to war, and a victor emerged. Thankfully (for Egypt as well as Israel) the Jews won this first of challenges against their right to statehood. The point being that peace was a result of their war. Israel took the Sinai Peninsula and said, how about we extend our borders to include this? Wanna play nice now? Then and only then was land exchanged for peace, after Israel won. The same can be said of all the Arab neighbors with whom peace is enjoyed, either through direct conflict or the concession that if Egypt, the biggest kid on the block, couldn't beat Israel how can (for example) Jordan do anything but make peace?

Which brings us to the issue of Palestine and the much vaunted 2 state solution. The problem with discussing that issue AT ALL, on any level, the reason so many US presidents have laid their political capitol at the feet of this alter with no return, is because so long as Israel has NO PARTNER in peace, peace can not be had through diplomacy. Bill Clinton got Ahud Barak to concede to 90% of Arafat's demands, and still, moving cabin to cabin in the dead of night at Camp David (there's irony for you), Arafat would not agree. I had some hope after Arafat's death that a leadership structure would emerge which Israel could deal with, then HAMAS was elected. Tell me where negotiations begin when in the charter of your adversary your very destruction sits in black and white? Lets put it this way - President Nasser, leader during Egypt's invasion of Israel, was considered a "modern" Arab. He built the Suez Canal, made infrastructure improvements, etc. If Israel can't "negotiate" their right to exist as a state with him (or even a Western reporter like Helen Thomas in 2010), how in the hell will negotiations prove fruitful with HAMAS? They want them in the Red Sea. Where do you go from there?

And that's the problem - Israel and her friends all keep dancing around the OBVIOUS. HAMAS must be defeated. But because of the PC and flat out anti Semitism involved, unless Palestine (such as it is) can mount an actual invasion of Israel, there is no scenario in which Israel can launch the neccessary offensive without all hell breaking loose. Yet that is the only way in which things will be settled that allows for an Egyptian style peace process to go forward. No war has occurred to clear the way forward to peace. And no amount of negotiation will reconcile HAMAS with ANY state named Israel. So what are our Jewish friends left with? They are LITERALLY biding their time, trying to ensure some level of security in the hope that the Palestinian disposition will eventually evolve! That's it! Israel fights off rocket attacks and suicide bombers, secures it borders and check points to the best they can, all hoping that somehow, some day a Palestinian leadership structure will emerge that is a real partner in peace. Because Israel didn't (for various reasons from their own humanity to international pressures, etc) have it out in a hot, short war, they have traded instead for a multi-generational, semi-war.

This is why peace has escaped that land. That is why this is a situation unique to history. I can not think of a historical scenario, nor do I think one exists, where a sovereign nation had the ability, men and material to absolutely squash a hostile, belligerent, and marauding neighbor, guilty of committing multiple acts of war, and simply chose NOT TO DO IT. So here we all sit. Symptoms are addressed and condemned, like raiding a flotilla (as if were rockets being fired from Mexico we'd allow ships of aide to pass to Cancun without redirecting them to the Port of New Orleans). Bombs go off. Markets are scenes of bloody violence. Riding a bus is taking your life into your own hands. Military service is a requirement. All because Israel refuses to do what every other nation in an act of self defense has done since the time of Hammurabi - defeat its' war mongering enemies. Instead it tries to corral their violence, hoping one day a leader for whom peace is possible will emerge on the other side. They have traded what would be another six days of war, for decades of violence.

The more proper parallel in my opinion is Japan. Imagine we take and set up shop in Osaka, and never drop the bomb. No bomb, no offensive to take the rest of the island, just set up, sat, protecting our fortification, hoping "one day" an Imperial leader would emerge whom we could deal with to make peace. What if we set out seeking "peace" in the Pacific that way? Are the Jihadists, is Hamas, is the Syrian and Iranian governments who supply them, are they any less fanatical then Japan of the 1940's? Any less radicalized? Any less dedicated? Total peace with a warring enemy comes at the price of total victory. It doesn't work if from behind your fort you send emissaries to discuss terms, and they send him back decapitated. In that instance you have no partner in peace. There is no peace to be kept. And until Israel and her allies face that fact, and quit dancing around the 800 lb gorilla of Gaza - that Palestine and her benefactors do not want peace - then Israel is simply trading a short war, for a long one.