{"id":111672,"date":"2014-04-08T08:19:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T08:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=08f038afb2cf17871ee42fd780dccf3a"},"modified":"2014-04-08T08:19:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T08:19:00","slug":"peace-process-hypocrisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/peace-process-hypocrisy\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace Process Hypocrisy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Peace Process Hypocrisy<\/b><\/div>\n
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by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n
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Sunday so-called Israeli\/Palestinian\/US peace talks ended in failure. More on this below.<\/div>\n
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Fact: Washington is no honest broker!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It never was!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s not one now!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Longstanding US policy one-sidedly favors Israel!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Both countries conspire against fundamental Palestinian rights!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They want them entirely denied!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Especially ones mattering most!<\/div>\n
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Fact: US involvement in sham peace talks guarantees failure!<\/div>\n
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Fact: State terrorism is official US policy!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s official Israeli policy!<\/div>\n
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Fact: So is institutionalized racism!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Jews alone have rights!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Palestinians have none!<\/div>\n
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Fact: No peace process exists!<\/div>\n
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Fact: None ever did!<\/div>\n
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Fact: There’s none now!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Pretending otherwise perpetuates the Big Lie!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Israel doesn’t negotiate!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It demands!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It rejects international laws and norms!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Its own rules alone apply!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They’re extrajudicial!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They’re illegitimate!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Washington and Tel Aviv bully, threaten and intimidate Palestinians to unconditionally comply with Israeli demands!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They’re given no choice!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Israel deplores peace!<\/div>\n
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Fact: So does Washington!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Both countries thrive on violence, instability and premeditated wars of aggression!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They seek unchallenged dominance!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They want all rival states eliminated!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They want subservient puppet regimes replacing them!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Israel claims a divine right to all valued parts of Judea and Samaria!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s stealing it one dunum at a time.<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s doing it daily.<\/div>\n
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Fact: The more land stolen, the less available for a viable Palestinian state!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Israel wants Palestinians confined to isolated bantustans on worthless scrubland!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It wants control over Palestinian land, borders, air space, offshore waters and resources!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It wants Jerusalem as its exclusive capital!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It wants diaspora Palestinians prevented from returning!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It wants Palestinians cowed into submission!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It wants them ruthlessly exploited!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Ideally it wants them gone – ethnically cleansed!<\/div>\n
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Fact: America is no democracy!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Nor is Israel!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It never was one!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s not now!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s a white supremacist rogue terror state!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Apartheid is institutionalized!<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s worse than South Africa’s at the height of its repression;<\/div>\n
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Fact: It’s Netanyahu-led government is its worst ever!<\/div>\n
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Fact: Right-wing extremists dominate it!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They exceed Sharonian evil!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They head a modern-day Sparta!<\/div>\n
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Fact: They threaten world peace!<\/div>\n
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Continuing sham peace talks perpetuates the Big Lie. Current ones began last July. ZERO results were achieved. <\/div>\n
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Nor will any ahead short of unconditional Palestinian surrender. Don’t bet against it not happening. It did multiple times before. Odds favor more of the same.<\/div>\n
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Longtime Israeli collaborators represent Palestinians. They lack legitimacy. What they plan this time remains to be seen. <\/div>\n
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They’re well rewarded for betrayal. Why give up a good thing. Palestinians may have the last word. <\/div>\n
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They’re fed up living under Israel’s boot. They’re tired of ruthless repression. They want long denied liberation. <\/div>\n
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They want their fundamental rights respected. Two Intifadas failed. Don’t bet against another erupting. Perhaps greater than before. <\/div>\n
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Maybe sustained longterm. Perhaps with more ordinary people worldwide supporting it. Maybe with greater success.<\/div>\n
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Winning longterm struggles require sustained commitment. IF Stone (1907 – 1989) was right saying:<\/div>\n
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“The only kinds of fights worth fighting are those you are going to lose, because somebody has to fight them and lose and lose and lose until someday, somebody who believes as you do wins.”<\/div>\n
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Last Thursday, talks ended in rancor. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators swapped bitter recriminations.<\/div>\n
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On Sunday, they met again. So-called last ditch talks again failed. No breakthrough happened.<\/div>\n
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None was expected. According to an anonymous Palestinian official:<\/div>\n
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“The crisis continues. During the whole meeting, the Israelis threatened the Palestinians and no solution to the crisis was found.”<\/div>\n
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An unnamed Israeli official added:<\/div>\n
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“The way it’s looking now, the talks as they were several weeks ago are no longer relevant.”<\/div>\n
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“Israel is preparing to return to routine dealings with the Palestinians as they were before the negotiations started nine months ago.”<\/div>\n
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“We are noticing a real coolness in the way the Americans are treating (the peace process), and it’s obvious that today’s Kerry is not the same Kerry from a few weeks ago.” <\/div>\n
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A second unnamed Israel official urged giving things “a few more days. A lot of efforts are being done to salvage the situation,” the source said.<\/div>\n
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Omitted was explaining heavy US\/Israeli pressure, threats and intimidation.<\/div>\n
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A typical disingenuous US statement followed Sunday’s meeting. According to an unnamed spokesperson:<\/div>\n
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“The meeting was serious and constructive and both sides requested that the United States convene another meeting (Monday) to continue the effort.”<\/div>\n
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Netanyahu threatened retaliation. He demands unconditional Palestinian surrender.<\/div>\n
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He demands Abbas rescind his legitimate applications to join 15 UN bodies and treaties.<\/div>\n
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He ludicrously says joining them “make(s) a peace agreement more distant.”<\/div>\n
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“Any unilateral moves they take will be answered by unilateral moves at our end,” he stressed.<\/div>\n
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Israel prioritizes unilateralism. Its rules alone apply. Palestinians have no choice. Comply or else.<\/div>\n
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Doing so destroys peace prospects. They’ve been dead on arrival for decades. Odds for success this time are more distant than ever.<\/div>\n
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It bears repeating. Chances for a just and equitable peace are ZERO! Pretending otherwise is fantasy. It ducks reality.<\/div>\n
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John Kerry is no honest broker. He one-sidedly favors Israel. He echoed Netanyahu’s demand. He wants Abbas to rescind his world body\/treaty applications.<\/div>\n
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Abbas refused. Kerry and Netanyahu outrageously call failure to do so a breach of PLO commitments. Israel and Washington alone breach terms.<\/div>\n
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They “negotiate” in bad faith. They make one-way demands. They say comply or else.<\/div>\n
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Palestinian general secretary Yasser Abed Rabbo blames Israel for peace talk failure. It “wants to extend the negotiations forever,” he said.<\/div>\n
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It does so to create “more facts on the ground. Israel always implements unilateral steps.” Palestinians suffer horrifically.<\/div>\n
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Sunday talks lasted about four hours. They ended past midnight. Nothing was resolved. On Monday, Knesset hardliners met.<\/div>\n
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Opposition leader Isaac Herzog called on Netanyahu coalition partners to abandon him. He cited foundering peace talks. He proposed a center-left coalition with his Labor Party.<\/div>\n
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“There is an alternative coalition in the Knesset today, which can bring peace,” he said. <\/div>\n
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“I call on Livni and Lapid – join me in an alternative political act. This government failed big time in social areas and now in diplomacy. Netanyahu is unable to do anything.”<\/div>\n
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Right-wing extremist Economy Minister Naftali Bennett deplores peace. On Sunday, he lied saying:<\/div>\n
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“We gave nine months to the negotiations in an unprecedented way. I, as leader of the Right, didn’t lead any demonstrations against (talks).” <\/div>\n
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“We let Livni and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat go into a room, and what came out of it were threats and extortion by the Palestinians, terrorist releases and no peace.”<\/div>\n
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Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel blamed chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni. “You failed,” he said.<\/div>\n
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“After (Palestinians) spat on you and on the State of Israel and unilaterally violated (so-called terms of the talks), you go back to negotiate.”<\/div>\n
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Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said she has no “expectations from Netanyahu.” Livni and Lapid “are (his) collaborators.”<\/div>\n
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“They are nothing but the government’s fig leaf. They are ignoring the will of the voters and the promises they made not that long ago.”<\/div>\n
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They’re “holding on to their seats so they won’t have to justify to voters the upkeep of settlements and and the occupation.”<\/div>\n
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“They joined the voices of right-wing settlers in the Netanyahu government and are blaming the end of talks on Palestinians, as if the government did anything in the past year to achieve progress in negotiations.”<\/div>\n
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Talks are deadlocked. Progress is nil. Expect none going forward. An agreed on April 29 deadline approaches.<\/div>\n
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Israel wants it extended. So does Washington. It remains to see if Palestinians agree to do so. <\/div>\n
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Why when conflict resolution is more distant than ever. When Washington and Israel abhor peace.<\/div>\n
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When Palestinians are isolated and on their own like always. When liberation looms no closer. <\/div>\n
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When continuing talks offers no better prospects than already. When doing so perpetuates the charade.<\/div>\n
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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. <\/div>\n
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His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”<\/div>\n
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http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/div>\n
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Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. <\/div>\n
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Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/div>\n
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It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. <\/div>\n
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http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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