Although the media and government continually promote Middle-east peace, it's not going to happen. Too many pressures oppose it, and it is not the Israelis. Israelis are continually pressed to trade land for a promise of peace, but fifty years of experience show the Palestinians merely take the land and ask, “What's next?” Peace from these deals proves temporary, fleeting and disingenuous. The Israelis get pressured to allow Palestinian self-rule, but the Israelis have offered autonomy for almost two decades now. Palestinians ignore the offers or summarily refuse. The simple reason is that anyone compromising with Israel immediately becomes targeted and killed; e.g., Sadat. Palestinian leaders apparently aren't suicidal. They send suicide bombers, but refuse to be suicidal.
Outsiders seem oblivious of the internal dynamics operating within the Palestinian community. For example, Condoleezza Rice insisted on free elections in Gaza, then got blindsided by the election of Hamas. Rice, et al, were oblivious to to two simple facts:
1) The PLO received hundreds of millions per year, which went almost totally into graft.
2) Hamas opened and operated neighborhood schools and clinics, rebuilt houses destroyed by the Israelis, and served families in daily ways such as talking to a child not exhibiting full effort in school, or even unplugging clogged plumbing.
Who would you vote for?
The UN, EU, etc. withhold funding previously going to the PLO because Hamas is a terrorist organization. Iran and Syria have stepped into the breech merely by increasing funding already being sent.
The economics are simple: Iran can smuggle in, say, a million dollars worth of arms, Hamas can fire these rockets off, the price of oil goes up a dollar per barrel, and Iran makes an additional billion and one-half from oil exports. Enviable ROI.
Any questions?
