Peace Process! Hooray! It'll be the Best Peace EVER!
Unless you aren't equipped with a remotely sensitive sarcasm meter, your probably already know from the heading of this post that I'm not very hopeful about a return to sanity in the Mid East. I'm mildly heartened by the new Palestinian Prime Minister, but everything other than that (like the recent suicide attacks and reprisals) indicates things aren’t likely to get better. Despite what the President and other neoconservative idealists keep saying, I don’t think “democracy” is the solution to the problem. The intifada is popular with the vast majority of Palestinians; so giving them more power might mean more violence, not less. While I think that in the long run democracy, rather than the corruption and cronyism of the PA is essential, I don’t believe its likely to happen soon or that it will do much to solve the problem. Instead, I’d like to push my pet solution (one supported by members of the Israeli Labor party), a security fence. The security fence would help prevent terrorism by keeping suicide bombers out. It would also help end the occupation in the territories, because without suicide attacks, the IDF wouldn’t need launch counterattacks. The Settlements would also become much less practical, because a vast stream of commuters from the settlements would undermine the effectiveness of the security fence. By reducing (if not ending) terrorism and the occupation, a security fence would do far more good for Israel and Palestine than any diplomatic initiative ever could.