Hillary Clinton Pledges to Press for Palestinian State
Although many of us can undoubtedly sympathize with Hillary Clinton’s pledge to press for a Palestinian state, there’s just one problem: how to create that state? ‘Palestine’ is divided geographically and politically. The West Bank is controlled by Fatah, Gaza by Hamas.
And those are only the Palestinians’ internal problems. There are even more problems when one takes Israel’s wishes into account.
How in God’s good name is it possible to create a viable Palestinian state in those circumstances?
Clinton, on her first visit to the region as secretary of state, said Washington believed “the inevitability of working toward a two-state solution is inescapable.” She promised the United States “will be vigorously engaged” in its pursuit…
Netanyahu supports expansion of existing Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a policy opposed by Washington and which Palestinians say could deny them a viable state.
President Barack Obama has said it will be a priority and Clinton pledged to push on “many fronts” early on.
Good luck with that. A miracle must happen in order to unite Hamas and Fatah and to make especially Hamas less extreme; after all, there can be no talk of a viable Palestinian state as long as this extremist group which wishes to destroy Israel remains in power.
That’s not cynicism, it’s common sense.
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Where’s King Solomon when you need him?
Israel loses. That notion is how you moderate Hamas and unite Palestine. The reason this conflict has never been solved is that Israeli officials have never had the political power to make concession. Israel has too much blind support. The propaganda was effective back when TV was high tech, but the world has changed and tables are turning. This exact moment in time is very interesting. With allegations of war crimes, an ongoing blockade, occupation, expanding settlements, and a newly elected right-wing government, Israel is looking a little extreme. Meanwhile, reacting to America’s vote for change, the Middle East is reaching out to the world and calling for a united stand for peace. For Palestine, Israel’s current behavior isn’t an obstacle, it’s an opportunity. It’s strategically appealing for Hamas to pursue a more moderate tone, and let Israel be seen as the extremist.
You didn’t expand on it, but you also make a good point about the geography going on here. If you were to make a Palestinian state this very moment, they’d be the Michigan of nation-states (for our foreign visitors, Michigan is split into two sections split by a large lake named after the state).
All the land in-between is Israel, and the airspace is controlled by Israel. I think it’s nearly impossible to run a country that is split in this way. If, say, Ramallah were to become the capital of a prospective state, it’d be them and essentially a colony 50 or so miles away.
Yet, I doubt Israel is going to give up more land so the two areas can be connected.