Middle East

Based on reporting in various news articles and published works on the Israel and Palestinian conflict, the US has vacillated between honest broker, and playing politics. In my opinion, an old saying aptly describes the US attempts to honestly broker peace between Israel and Palestine; “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” As a matter of politics in the 1940’s, President Harry S. Truman under pressure of “Zionist” interests groups in the US, pressed for immigration of Jews to Palestine. At that time, Britain attempted to control Jewish immigration to Palestine through quotas and was set back by violent attacks from Jewish terrorist group Irgun Zvai Leumi and Palestinian counter attacks. Demands from the Truman Administration in 1946 insisted that “100,000 Jews be admitted immediately to Palestine”(Held 254). Buckling under pressure, in 1947 Britain announced plans to “relinquish mandate and leave the future of Palestine to the UN”(Held, 254). Britain’s withdrawal from governing Palestine created room for the creation of Israel and later US administrations would attempt to broker peace between the conflicting Israelis and Palestinians.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter worked with Israel and the Palestinians to broker a peace solution for the two peoples which included addressing the settlements issue which hampered negotiations. The negotiations and peace process was fraught with omissions, lies, and underhanded dealing on both the Israeli side regarding settlements in occupied territories, and on the Palestinian side who was not yet ready to accept or acknowledge Israel as a state. “Carter and other officials believed they had [Israeli Prime Minister] Begin’s oral acceptance of this proposal [to freeze settlements for approximately five years during negotiations for peace], but Begin then informed Carter in writing that he would accept only a three month moratorium”(Smith 354). The apparent attempt to be an honest broker of peace was sabotaged by Israeli double dealing on settlements, and the Palestinian refusal to acknowledge Israel’s claim to the land it occupied. Later US administrations attempted to reach agreements between the Israelis and Palestinians with no luck increasingly due to the ongoing problems of expanding Jewish settlement. During the Clinton Administrations attempts to broker peace, it was apparent that little advanced planning was conducted by the PLO during the 1990’s to prepare for eventualities of negotiations with Israel and statehood. Because a lack of planning on the part of the PLO author Rashid Khalidi explains, “The Palestinian delegation in Madrid and Washington therefore found itself obliged to begin its preparations from scratch, and in extremely difficult circumstances, including Israeli preconditions supported by the United States…”(Khalidi, 160-161). Khalidi underscores the importance of the United States’ support in propping up the Israeli position.

Later administrations would try, fail, and give up on making progress with the Israeli and Palestinian problems. One recurring issue facing Palestinian people is the continued financial support America provides to fund and equip Israel’s military. As a major contributing factor, direct funding of the Israeli Army by the United States presents Palestinians with an inexhaustible brutal and often violent occupying force which is portrayed in American media as providing for Israel’s security. Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian Legislative Council in the West Bank comments on the Israeli security situation; “This is not presented as an army using its arsenal against young people who are largely unarmed and who are protesting because of the occupation, the siege, the total oppression of a whole nation”(PPPL 18:38). Many challenges face the peace process for Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East. America’s exuberant military funding of Israel Army and American complacency of illegal Israeli settlements indicate a failure to honestly and openly address the US’s role in the conflict. Daniella Weiss, a Jewish Settler and Mayor of a large Jewish Settlement in occupied Palestinian territory explains, “Settlements prevent the establishment of a Palestinian State in the Land of Israel. This is the goal and this is the reality”(IPOR). As author Colbert C. Held notes of America’s present attempts at peace; “President Obama tried to regain the position of the United States as the honest broker between the two sides, but even an optimistic assessment would conclude that he has had only limited success through 2013”(Held, 264).