Monday, March 17, 2014
Jewish State Declaration an Unyielding Block to Deal
This article from The New York Times discusses the negotiation talks between Israel and Palestine- and the coming deadline for them. The negotiations which President Obama is mediating, are suffering right now because Mr. Abbas, president of the Palestine Authority, is refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish State. This article raises some key questions that we as a class have discussed, questions such as: How big a role should compromising play in politics? We should also consider the effect this has on our own government. As we know from our chapter on the Presidency, a lot of the president's time is spent in managing foreign affairs, and now Obama is facing international problems on at least three major fronts: Israel and Palestine, The Ukraine/Russian dispute, and the Iranian nuclear negotiations. The pressure is increasing and the deadline of April 29th is approaching; it will be interesting to see if progress can be made- or if the politicians involved will resort to avoiding the blame if the talks fail (as Mark Landler,the author, supposes.)
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There is a long history of issues between Israel and Palestine. I think it's always a little bizarre that the U.S. gets involved in foreign affairs where we have no interest. I'm not saying that helping is wrong, I just wonder if Obama has put too much on his plate at the moment. I don't think negotiations will go any further by April 29, but I don't know what the next step will be.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely a tough time for Obama to get too deep into this conflict because, like Noelle said, the Ukraine/Russia conflict and Iranian nuclear negotiations are already weighing heavily in his mind regarding United States involvement. I would hope that since both the United Nations and the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization have already recognized Israel as a Jewish state that Mr. Abbas would also, but I don't see this happening anytime soon, especially by the deadline that is quickly approaching. It will be interesting to see what each side does next in order to resolve the dispute.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the U.S. think it can set a deadline for Palestine and Israel to reach a peace agreement? These two nations have been bickering for years, so America thinks it can just set a date for it to stop? This problem is going to have to be solved between Israel and Palestine, not the United States. And like the article said, we have enough to worry about as far as international relations with the crisis in Ukraine. The last thing we probably want to do is create tension with Israel.
ReplyDeleteThe two countries, Israel and Palestine, have had issues for years. Even if the US were to somehow be able to achieve peace for the courtries, the citizens would still go on hating each other. I agree with Evan in that the US already has a lot on our plates at the moment, internationally speaking. We shouldn't be focused on achieving peace for another country, the two countries should be working things out amongst themselves. I think the president should focus on one country's issues at a time.
ReplyDeleteHere we go again trying to play global policeman and we are butting in on business that we really have no business being involved in. At this point, we should be way more worried about what's happening at home and the countries where we have troops stationed in. We honestly don't have any reason to be over there butting into this business. Let Israel and Palestine sort this out themselves.
ReplyDelete“I'm not saying that helping is wrong, I just wonder if Obama has put too much on his plate at the moment.” I completely agree with Yarrow on this one. Foreign affairs certainly cannot be ignored, but as we've seen in the past, presidents who take on too much ultimately become overwhelmed. It's unfortunate, but so far we've seen a lot of Obama's second term preoccupied by foreign affairs, much like Presidents Wilson and Lyndon B Johnson. Hopefully this doesn't completely derail Obama's efforts at home.
ReplyDeleteThe United States has always been involved with many problems with other countries, especially Palestine and Israel. It seems there are a lot of issues between countries occurring now. It is nice that the president wants to get involved, but it may be too much for him. Like many of my classmates have said. It seems that we are acting like Team America: World Police if anyone is familiar with that movie.
ReplyDeleteObama has a ton going on right now. I have never been a fan of as Kevin called it, "the global policeman," for I feel as though the US constantly gets too involved in issues which we do not belong. Foreign affairs are important, but with Ukraine, Iran, and Palestine/Israel, it's impossible to be involved with and successfully engage in all three. I'm intrigued to say that we completely isolate ourselves from the Israel and Palestine situation, but that now seems impossible and letting them work it out alone may result in more conflict. I'm unsure how this issue will be handled in the end, but I'm interested to find out.
ReplyDeleteAs history has shown, the relationship between Israel and Palestine is very complex and has no easy fix. If there was a way that could solve the dispute and leave both sides happy that would already have been done a long time ago. This does not mean that a solution is impossible, but I think it is likely that creating a lasting solution may be hard with the current April 29th deadline. The United States has a lot going on right now in terms of foreign affairs so it will be interesting to see where Obama places his focus.
ReplyDeleteAs Katie said, the relationship between Israel and Palestine is very complex, and history has shown that this issue is no easy fix. With that said, Secretary of the State John Kerry and President Obama do indeed have a lot on their plate. I wouldn't blame President Obama for having such a full plate as he didn't plan this Ukraine/Russian crisis nor could he have possibly for-seen it. I don't think that reaching an April 29th deadline is realistic for a longtime solution. Therefore, I think the deadline should be pushed back and the US should negotiate a tentative agreement between the countries to keep the peace while the negotiating continues.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel like I am informed enough about this issues to comment. I think that it is fair to point out that any conflict is complicated when there are religious differences involved, as I believe is the case with Israel and Palestine. People will be less likely to find a compromise when it comes to their religious beliefs. I think that it is good of the US to play moderator between these two countries if it keeps us from going to war.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't have a definitive opinion when it comes to how much we should "police" the world, I think the US has a duty to be part of these discussions. After all we were one of the countries who after WWII decided it would be a good idea to draw more artificial lines and create a country for the Jews. We played a part in creating the mess in the middle east, we can't just back out now.
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