Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Success in the Mideast

As historian Barry Rubin of the GLORIA Center points out here, President Obama may soon be be confronted with a bitter truth previously learned by his two predecessors, Presidents Clinton and Bush. To wit: it's hard to make Mideast peace when one party, the Palestinians, prefers to hold out for the hope of eventual victory, defined as the elimination of the state of Israel.

The issue in dispute this time is the UN's Goldstone Report which the Palestinians hope will lead to international sanctions against Israel. The United States has come out against the report, as it is biased and unfair. Rubin predicts that, "within a month or two, Obama is going to be denounced in the Palestinian media--with the Syrians and others picking this up--that he is just another George W. Bush."

The only real question is: how will Obama react to future criticism by Palestinians or their supporters? Will he simply ignore it, as he has other criticism from foreign sources?

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