continuing to turn pages, next in barry's book, which clearly lacks a chapter on realpolitik, is this dialogue between israel and the "palestinians" he's putting so much of his capital into
Opinion: Mideast peace talks' hidden threat - Jonathan Schanzer - POLITICO.com
these things i did not know, and they are scarily serious:
obama's peace talks embrace only the leaders of the west bank and NOT GAZA
40% of extant palestinians live in old philistia, they are represented by a political wing of hamas who were very popularly elected
that is, there is reason to believe that the political leaders of gaza express well the sentiments of palestinians at large, ie, even those on the banks of the jordan
by including only the palestinian authority in his peace talks, obama is "excising" almost half the oppressed, as well as those who are probably the most apt spokespeople of palestinian hearts
by recognizing the unelected authority obama gives credance to (according to roger simon's journo listers) "another illegitimate authoritarian middle east regime"
and "that's certainly not a pro palestinian policy"
by isolating gaza obama, evidently unwittingly, leaves hamas with "little choice but continuing to remain on the iranian dole"
"dole," tho accurate, may not be the most telling word to describe this relationship
some discussion of
client status may be more pertinent
gaza remains an "official terrorist state, disowned by its neighbors, leaving its people with fewer opportunities"
any future conflict with gaza will naturally "draw in" the aspirations of palestinians even in the west bank---out of solidarity
ie, by excluding gaza obama merely exacerbates already overstrained tensions there which, almost inevitably, will involve the brotherhood on the bank, thus undoing any progress he hopes to make in his tripartite tete a tete with messieurs bebe and abbas
even more troubling: "obama has ignored the conflict [between hamas and the authority] entirely"
schanzer's conclusion: "obama has yet to answer these questions, with no apparent endgame in sight his peace talks may do more harm than good for the palestinian cause"
are you sure this guy knows what he's doing?