Submitted by Miguel, Jun 8, 2007 09:28

Ho Chi Minh said, "Time is the condition to be won to defeat the enemy." He knew that steadfast determination and patience would wear down his adversaries, and he had many techniques to avoid losing in the meantime. Historically, Israeli leaders have seen the advantage in this approach, and have not faced military defeat, but have had to demonstrate to US administrations that they had no one with whom to negotiate. Thus in the 1980s, PM Shamir disdained Secretary Shultz's suggestion that he deal with Faisal Husseini, and Israel's friends in Washington made sure that President Reagan could not fulfill his commitments to King Hussein to provide security assistance so that he could be the interlocutor Reagan needed for his Fresh Start initiative. And so it goes -- by disqualifying potential interlocutors and making conditions for the Palestinians increasingly intolerable, Israeli governments have avoided negotiations while they have continued annexation of the Territories. But that has meant that the leadership of the Palestinians has become splintered and scary. Too bad. Maybe time -- if not used, but simply extended -- is in this case the condition that makes peace impossible.

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