"J STREET" by Ezra Klein
Late last week, Gershom Gorenberg, an Israeli-based writer, reported that Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas, had stated his willingness to accept "a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 boundaries -- that is, alongside Israel, not in place of it." This statement, a bombshell if there ever was one, received coverage in the Israeli press, some mentions in the Italian press, and virtually no visibility in the English-language press.
It was interesting timing. Hamas was, to be sure, in the news last week, but not for a willingness to negotiate. Rather, they were being mentioned because Barack Obama had stated his unwillingness to negotiate with them. And, in general, most of his supporters greeted the news with a sigh of relief. Some lamented its necessity but welcomed his position as politically wise; there are some fights he simply shouldn't pick. Others approved because it accorded with their preexisting beliefs. Both variants were, in part, products of the same domestic political environment, where the accepted position on Israel is unquestioning support for its most hardline political elements and the proposed policy -- more arm sales, continued refusal to recognize the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people, an unwillingness to exert pressure that leads to peace -- equals out to an unyielding commitment to perpetual conflict. And so we have the odd spectacle in which Hamas's apparent willingness to resign itself to a Jewish state is ignored, but Obama's promise to ignore cracks in their militancy is greeted.
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