Israel and Palestine: Talks going well. Do not expect peace

Israel and Palestine: Talks going well. Do not expect peace September 17th, 2010 6:53 am ET George Mitchell visited Damascus Thursday for talks with Syrian president Bashar al- Assad. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Channel 10 news in an exclusive interview on Thursday, "talks will "take time" and are "complicated." The Israel Defense Forces killed a Hamas military commander in the West Bank, Friday. Hamas has declared its objection to the recent relaunch of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, saying that Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas does not represent the Palestinian.people and is not authorized to negotiate on its behalf. In the midst of it all George Mitchell says : "In negotiations brokered by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas were having a "serious and substantive" discussion. All sincere and genuine efforts for peace deserve support and encouragement, be they a a benefit concert by ZZ Top, or a thousand Vegans meditating by the sea. In this case four senior politicians meet in Egypt, while other important politicians in the neighborhood shuttle about this way and that to weigh in, and weigh in they should. This is all good. Very good. We wish each soul in the play strength and the angels of clarity and courage. No one doubts that political dimensions play a very significant part of the tragic and enduring tensions in the Middle East. As such all the world should be grateful that figures from the very top of the political ladder are involved in talks. Talk is good, and to have direct conversations among the top most decision makers is best. Unfortunately politics make up only a narrow and delimited dimension of the quest for peace. They are not the heartbeat of conflict, our obsession with such talks notwithstanding. Indeed, politics are not even the c entral dimension conflict and Frank Kaufmann Middle East peace talks page 1

Israel and Palestine: Talks going well. Do not expect peace

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