Sunday, March 03, 2024

Recipe for Surrender



Ro Khanna presumably means well.  Interviewed by Margaret Brennan on Sunday's Face the Nation on CBS, the U.S. Representative from California concedes "everyone agrees Hamas is a terrorist organization. What they did on October 7 is brutal. It should be condemned unequivocally."

He then immediately calls for a de factor Israeli surrender, remarking "But the point is, now, it's time to get a permanent ceasefire and release of the hostages, and the President can do it, with one call he can do it."

That's what President Biden is working on. However, unlike the appeasement caucus, the President at least intends to extract assurance that all hostages be released in return for a permanent ceasefire..  Asked by Brennan about the possible political danger Biden faces if he continues to support Israel, Khanna responded

.... he can turn it around, not just by calling for a ceasefire, if he becomes the first American President to convene Gulf allies, to convene Israel to convene municipal leaders in Palestine and civic society and said, I'm going to get this done. I'm going to recognize a Palestinian state, I'm going to have a two state solution, and I'm going to recognize that the security of Israel matters, that the end of occupation matters, he can become a hero.

Unfortunately, the congressman wants the President to "recognize a Palestinian state" going into the gathering. He calls for a Palestinian state immediately after calling on Biden to convene interested parties and "municipal leaders in Palestine."  Khanna therein already has recognized a Palestinian state- "municipal leaders in Palestine."  He wants the USA to create a Palestinian state, which he believes already exists.

If that seems like a contradiction, you've been paying attention. It makes as little sense as does the idea of the President speaking to Gulf allies at the same time he speaks to Palestinian leaders (whomever they are and whomever they purport to represent).

Gulf nations may be key to a long-term solution because of their resources (read: money); some have serious financial resources; and they have similar antipathy toward ethnic Palestinians as does the Netanyahu government.

The Administration should iron out a proposal with Saudi Arabia, which believes Israel must accept a two-state solution for a viable solution. Once a framework is reached with Riyadh, those amorphous Palestinian leaders and the Israeli government should be brought into negotiations. Biden should get buy-in from nations such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan (approximately half of whose population is ethnic Palestinian) before squeezing the two warring parties.

A two-state solution must be negotiated, not declared in existence by fiat.  By contrast, Ro Khanna and the appeasement caucus already have decided that the USA should call for a ceasefire, only then  hammering out an agreement, which may or may not include release of all hostages. If the Biden Administration acquiesces to that approach, Hamas will be the unquestioned winner of the war it initiated with a slaughter of Israeli citizens.



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