died long ago. The national instinct of survival has become blunted. Thirty-five years of occupation and settlement have eroded the nation's ability to reason, leaving instead a mixture of arrogance and folly.
A great, perhaps unique, opportunity may be missed. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands may pay for it with their lives. They will not dance in the streets any more.
May 4, 2003
This could have been an important document, IF:
IF All the parties really wanted to achieve a fair compromise.
IF Sharon and Co. were really prepared to give back the occupied territories and dismantle the settlements.
IF The Americans were willing to exert serious pressure on Israel.
IF There was a president in Washington like Dwight Eisenhower, who did not give a damn about Jewish votes and donations.
IF George Bush were convinced that the Roadmap served his interests, instead of being a bone to throw to his British poodle.
IF Tony Blair thought that it served his interests, instead of being a crumb to throw to his domestic rivals.
IF The United Nations had any real power.
IF Europe had any real power.
IF Russia had any real power.
IF My grandmother had wheels.
All these IFs belong to an imaginary world. Therefore, nothing will come from all the talking about this document. The embryo is dead in the womb of its mother, the Quartet.
In spite of this, let's try to treat the matter in all seriousness. Is this a good document? Could it be helpful, if all the IFs were realistic?
In order to answer this seriously, one has to distinguish between the declared objectives and the road that is supposed to lead to them.
The objectives are very positive. They are identical with the aims of the Israeli peace movement: an end to the occupation, the establishment of the independent State of Palestine side-by-side with the State of Israel, Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian peace, the integration of Israel in the region.
In this respect, the Roadmap goes further than the Oslo agreement. In the Oslo "Declaration of Principles" there was a giant hole: it did