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Interview on the possibility of peace in the Middle East, 14 July 2006 Published in the Cambridge Evening News (15 July 2006) Glen Rangwala, a lecturer in Middle Eastern politics at Cambridge University, said: "In contrast to many conflicts, in which the contours of the peace agreement are in dispute, in the Middle East, everybody knows what a final settlement to the dispute between Israel and its neighbouring states would look like. "All the major participants agree there would be a two state solution in which a Palestinian state would be created, and even the hard-line parties on both sides, such as Likud in Israel, Hamas in Palestine, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, all agree that this would be the most likely outcome. "This should be a cause for optimism. Unfortunately, it misses what is perhaps the key point - and that is how to deal with the spoilers on both sides, who will always be there. Even if backroom deals are struck, there will still always be that problem of how each side responds to these groups who try to disrupt any agreement. "Israel's policy has been, and realistically will continue to be, that of massive retaliation to anybody who tries to use violence against it, and in this it is essentially unrestrained. "It has the strongest military by far in the region and unwavering US support. There will be pressure on any Israeli government from its own population, in circumstances like the capture of personnel, to take large-scale military action in response to challenges. "Without huge changes in Israeli public consciousness, this will continue. But it also feeds into an intense sense of injustice – rightly felt in my opinion - on the Arab side, highly aware of the hypocrisy of external powers. "There are some 8,000 Arab prisoners in Israeli jails still, and they are considered hostages by the Arab side, and they do see it as highly unjust that when three Israelis are captured, this hits the headlines, but when thousands of Arabs are kept - some since the 1970s – this raises no international attention. "Israel's military action only exacerbates the desire to stand up for what is perceived as right and just by the Arab side. "Neither the Israeli desire to deter attacks, nor the Arab sense of injustice is likely to change. What may change in the long term are the political and economic costs for Israel in taking such large-scale military action. But that will require much larger changes internationally in the position of the US, Europe, and other major external powers."
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Author: Glen Rangwala Back to the Index of Writings |
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