The Palestinian Addiction

At Contentions, Bill Siegel has an excellent analysis in which he compares the 'Palestinians' to alcoholics or drug addicts. The entire concept of a “peace process” is, perhaps, the enabler’s most seductive tool. Peace does not require a process. When peace or the cessation of violence is traded for some asset or benefit, it is everywhere else called extortion. Responsible parties necessarily presume peace as a backdrop (and by definition recognize each other’s existence) and negotiate for other terms. Nor does peace need to take any time. If the Palestinians truly wanted peace, as is so often claimed, they could have it instantly. Act peacefully and then enter a “process” to negotiate whatever else is desired. Rather, what Palestinian leaders have engaged in is a decades-long "extortion process" that has directly caused the misery of the Palestinian people. One of the addict’s twelve steps should include the elimination of peace process from his lexicon.

Like so many addicts who often waste an array of talents and gifts, the Palestinians have much to offer in terms of a trainable and price-competitive work force. Many opportunities exist to carve out an economics-based transaction that could be valuable to both parties. There is no external reason why the Palestinians could not rapidly develop a well functioning economy and society. However, when violence (or its cessation) is the currency, no room is possible for constructive exchange. It is precisely that guarantee of failure that holds the addiction in place.