Gershon Baskin thinks that the economic siege of Gaza was meant to weaken Hamas and to apply pressure on it to release Gilad Schalit. The policy has accomplished neither. Instead, Hamas is stronger and richer and Israel is isolated and condemned by the international community.
I am convinced that it is possible to make real progress through proximity talks, and given the level of mutual mistrust, I even believe it is the preferred means.
am writing from a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain to Amman after attending a conference on nuclear energy run by the Gulf Cooperation Council for Foreign Relations. Ironically, my in-flight reading is Thomas Friedman’s award-winning book The Lexus and the Olive Tree – a brilliant explanation of the meaning of globalization and its impacts on the world.
Gershon Baskin believes that Jerusalem, with two sovereigns, will be an open city demonstrating the human ability for creativity, ingenuity and the spirit of understanding, compassion and true sanctity.
Gershon Baskin discussed the the role of the United States administration in the peace process.
Gershon Baskin believes that even if the official negotiations don’t begin, “economic peace” plans can have a positive political dimension. Netanyahu should adopt these and other steps that will demonstrate that Israel is interested in seeing a viable and successful Palestinian state as a good neighbor.
Too much of what is commonly known about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is generated by the constant repetition of truisms that fit the justifications of one side’s explanations. Too few of us bother to weigh the possibility that there might be another interpretation of reality. If so, it might also suggest that our own may not be the exclusive version of truth.
The settlement issue will continue to be the major point of contention between Israel and the PLO in the coming months of negotiations – whether through proximity talks or through direct face-to-face negotiations.
The crisis in relations between Washington and Jerusalem is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of being able to move a peace process forward. There is no doubt that the crisis poses one of the most serious challenges to the Obama administration in its foreign policy agenda in general and potentially could shape and influence the policy of the US in the region for years to come.
Palestinians have an opportunity to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation ignited by Netanyahu’s thoughtless words on the heritage sites.