On May 19, president Obama stirred a bristling forest fire by suggesting that Israel and Palestine establish boundaries based on 1967 pre-war borders. His now infamous speech reminds us how often Western attempts at Middle East diplomacy fail.
What at first seemed like another determined effort by president Obama to promote peace in the region weakened when he backtracked on his statement under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the fear for losing crucial Jewish-American support, a demographic that voted 74 percent in his favor during the 2008 election.
Sadly, Obama's recent actions reflect the pitiable history of Western intervention in the region. For centuries western nations have promoted meaningless rhetoric that has left the region continually suffering. By refusing to stand firm in his convictions, Obama yet again exhibited this pitiful nature of Western involvement in the Middle East.
The British first incited Middle Eastern strife back in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration. For the first time, a western nation announced its goal to set aside land for a Jewish state in the Middle East. The European Jewish population, embroiled in constant religious persecution, harbored desires for a Jewish nation- state where they could live free of persecution.
The biblical land of Palestine seemed ideal for the new nation, just as the region was playing host to a frothing Arab struggle against their Ottoman oppressors. The British craftily led to the Ottoman's downfall by promising nations to the Jews and the Arabs, and were later heralded as victors of the Great War. Only history would remember them as the villains who manipulated the national aspirations of various peoples, resulting in decades of turmoil in the Middle East.
It should be quite lucid 94 years later that Western involvement in the Middle East aimed toward gaining political mileage will never really solve the region's problems. Instead, it is very likely to further fuel the anguish already present in the Israeli and Palestine people. While Israel portrays the image of a nation that sips testosterone like tea— touting military might that is second to none— its citizens live in a constant fear of being the target of terror attacks. And even though Palestine continues to vehemently press for recognition of statehood, it can barely hold together the various opposing factions that threaten to tear the territory apart. Until each nation addresses its own challenges, peace in the region will be hard to achieve.
It is easy to imagine that at least a few people who pray for Middle Eastern peace feel a glimmer of hope when charismatic western diplomats spout messages of hope. Since the 1970s and the Camp David Accords, the United States has focused part of its foreign policy to vehemently promote ""peace in the Middle East.""
But time after time, the dreams of peace are mercilessly dashed to the floor when peace talks fail and violence continues in the region. These failures should not be surprising, especially when negotiators are typically focused on temporary relief and self-promotion. Lasting results demand the sincere commitment of regional— not international— leaders, as well as a steely resolve from Middle Eastern people.
Even more bothersome is observing Israel and Palestine staying relatively immune to the revolutions that have swept through the Middle East in the past few months. People yearning for democracy and political freedom from tyrants have put their lives at stake to fight for their rights, attracting international attention, and, in a few instances, inspiring direct intervention.
Yet, the Palestine region dwells in a state of violence that has been in for decades, seemingly unruffled by the tremors just outside its borders. It is almost as if Israel and Palestine have walled themselves in, out of sight of the rest of the region, and that is something no Western diplomat can fix.
There is little reason to expect contemporary Western leaders to truly understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It will be up to the people of the Middle East to steer the debate to a peaceful resolution.
The longer Israel and Palestine allow other countries and their campaigning politicians to intervene in their affairs, the less likely any progress will ever be made to achieving long-lasting peace in the troubled region.
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