By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
US President Barack Obama met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon yesterday. Ban Ki Moon said that he had hoped that the Middle East peace process would get momentum from the trip President Obama took to the region.
Obama said that there is a "window of opportunity for peace."
Use of the term "window" is, by now, a cliche.
For years the Obama administration, and almost every other Western leader and their administration, shouted about the dire need to find a resolution in the Middle East before the "window" of opportunity closes.
But it has not closed. The entire metaphor is wrong.
The sides - Israel and the Palestinians - are not prepared for peace. You cannot push and prod them into peace. That said, it would, at the very least, be nice to have them sit down at a negotiating table. This week, Israel was asked to take steps that would encourage and entice the Palestinians to come to the table.
Israel responded: "Absolutely no!"
But now the Israelis have said that they are stopping settlement construction. Will that bring the Palestinians to the table?
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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