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Friday, January 31, 2020
Governor Newsom Reaffirms the State May Take Control of PG&E this Summer - California Globe
Governor Newsom Reaffirms the State May Take Control of PG&E this Summer - California Globe: During a Public Policy Institute of California event on Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed that that California would takeover PG&E if the company doesn't make significant changes by June 30th."There’s a culture there that transcends, and if it doesn’t change that state of California is poised to take over," said Newsom on Wednesday.
Asia Times | US, Philippine defense ties on a chopping block | Article
Asia Times | US, Philippine defense ties on a chopping block | Article: Philippine leader escalates diplomatic spat while doubling down threat to scrap key security pact
Judge approves PG&E Tubbs Fire settlements, while Newsom mulls state takeover | Utility Dive
Judge approves PG&E Tubbs Fire settlements, while Newsom mulls state takeover | Utility Dive: Utility industry news and analysis for energy professionals.
California's governor says he's ready to take over embattled PG&E
California's governor says he's ready to take over embattled PG&E: PG&E has to exit Chapter 11 by June 30, but there is one huge remaining obstacle: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has long talked about a state takeover of the company.
Santa Clara County, CA, reports case of deadly coronavirus | The Sacramento Bee
Santa Clara County, CA, reports case of deadly coronavirus | The Sacramento Bee: Public health officials in Santa Clara County said Friday that an adult male resident is the first confirmed case in Northern California of the novel coronavirus.
Trump Administration To Curb Immigrants From 6 Nations, Including Nigeria : NPR
Trump Administration To Curb Immigrants From 6 Nations, Including Nigeria : NPR: The U.S. has now placed 13 nations under varying travel bans. The new policy restricts immigrant visas for citizens of Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan.
Opinion: The line between us: For Chinese-Canadians like me, coronavirus is just the latest strain of infectious fear we’ve faced - The Globe and Mail
Opinion: The line between us: For Chinese-Canadians like me, coronavirus is just the latest strain of infectious fear we’ve faced - The Globe and Mail: From coronavirus fear to geopolitical suspicion to housing-crisis resentment, the conditions are ripe for Chinese ethnicity to become tied up with a nationality that does not belong to Chinese-Canadians – and for Sinophobia to potentially become cultural fact
Pro-life science fiction: Seeing the unhuman in ourselves | Russell Saltzman
Pro-life science fiction: Seeing the unhuman in ourselves | Russell Saltzman: Within four years of Roe v. Wade, at least two science fiction writers touched on pro-life themes, favorably and with some boldness. “The Pre-Persons” by Philip K. Dick (d. 1981) is a chillingly blunt story, a direct rebuke of Roe v. Wade. The second, by Larry Niven, now 81, took the pro-life question on the oblique.
Estranged Friendships: Lessons from Kobe Bryant’s Death | Dave Armstrong
Estranged Friendships: Lessons from Kobe Bryant’s Death | Dave Armstrong: When a tragic death occurs (like that of Kobe Bryant), it brings into focus how we ought to tell loved ones that we love them, & show love. I reflect on that & related issues, with examples.
Dershowitz is Wrong: What Trump Did Was a Crime
Dershowitz is Wrong: What Trump Did Was a Crime
https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/2020/01/29/dershowitz-is-wrong-what-trump-did-was-a-crime/
Whatever Happened to ______ ?
Whatever Happened to ______ ?: Envy over her success led her husband, also a writer, to become violent. She fights every day for her safety — and to avoid being relegated to obscurity like so many writers who are mothers.
Open House | Issue 36 | n+1
Open House | Issue 36 | n+1: How can I talk about the new people and their superpower of invasion? I’m forever grappling with this question, reducing, stereotyping, and then struggling not to be reductive. What I keep coming back to is their apparent belief that their way of living belongs everywhere, that it should trickle down the ladder of power and fill every lower space, scouring and purifying as it goes.
At Mrs. Balbir’s
At Mrs. Balbir’s: Jillian Dunham traveled thousands of miles from home to get away from her grief. It found her anyway, in a stranger’s Bangkok apartment.
Google's lovely Super Bowl ad shows how sad the future will be | ZDNet
Google's lovely Super Bowl ad shows how sad the future will be | ZDNet: During the Super Bowl, Google expects you to cry, as well as marveling what its AI can do. I'm experiencing another emotion.
Stephen Hawking's biggest fear: The rich | ZDNet
Stephen Hawking's biggest fear: The rich | ZDNet: In a new book, the famed physicist worries about the rise of "superhumans" who use genetic engineering to advance themselves. At the expense of others.
Economy grew at 2.1% rate in fourth quarter - The Boston Globe
Economy grew at 2.1% rate in fourth quarter - The Boston Globe: The economy turned in a weaker annual performance last year than in 2018, held back by developments that set the stage for slower growth to come.
Trump doesn’t want forgiveness. He wants approval. - The Boston Globe
Trump doesn’t want forgiveness. He wants approval. - The Boston Globe: The president wants senators to embrace a breathtaking theory of executive power in order to acquit him in his impeachment trial.
Bloomberg’s $11 million Super Bowl ad: Gun violence and a grieving mother - The Boston Globe
Bloomberg’s $11 million Super Bowl ad: Gun violence and a grieving mother - The Boston Globe: After the dazzle and pop of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday, Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is hoping to “stop people in their tracks.”
Concerns raised in Mass. life sciences sector about US crackdown on China - The Boston Globe
Concerns raised in Mass. life sciences sector about US crackdown on China - The Boston Globe: Shock waves rippled through the life sciences world this week when federal authorities arrested the head of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, and escorted him into court in in handcuffs and shackles.
Fears of coronavirus fuel anti-Chinese racism - The Boston Globe
Fears of coronavirus fuel anti-Chinese racism - The Boston Globe: While the World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global emergency, anti-Chinese sentiment appears to be spreading widely and quickly around the world — including Boston — as well.
The Trauma Chronicles, Continued - The Catholic Thing
The Trauma Chronicles, Continued - The Catholic Thing: David Warren: The world will end, and we need to be prepared, and Christian conversion is the one preparation that meets all exigencies.
Federal court: labor board can't judge Catholic schools' religious mission
Federal court: labor board can't judge Catholic schools' religious mission: Longstanding court precedent has recognized religious schools’ right to pursue their mission in faculty employment decisions, and so the National Labor Relations Board wrongly claimed jurisdiction over Duquesne University, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has said in a decision vacating the board's recognition of a labor union for adjunct faculty.
Pat Cipollone: How the Trump lawyer went from camera-shy to impeachment-famous - The Washington Post
Pat Cipollone: How the Trump lawyer went from camera-shy to impeachment-famous - The Washington Post: How a staunchly Catholic father of 10, who never before generated headlines, has become America’s most visible attorney.
Here are the most interesting questions so far in impeachment trial | National Catholic Reporter
Here are the most interesting questions so far in impeachment trial | National Catholic Reporter: I have never met Aaron Blake, who writes "The Fix" column at The Washington Post, but sometimes I wonder if we were separated at birth. In the course of the day, I will be thinking about what the focu...
The WHO declares China virus a global health emergency: Two biblical responses
The WHO declares China virus a global health emergency: Two biblical responses
https://www.denisonforum.org/columns/science/the-who-declares-china-virus-a-global-health-emergency-two-biblical-responses/?utm_source=The+Daily+Article&utm_campaign=693c4f639c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_04_16_05_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51f776a552-693c4f639c-274871037&mc_cid=693c4f639c&mc_eid=53c522c9d8
Exponential Growth Rate: The Number Of Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Is 236 Times Higher Than It Was 2 Weeks Ago – End Of The American Dream
Exponential Growth Rate: The Number Of Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Is 236 Times Higher Than It Was 2 Weeks Ago – End Of The American Dream: What is our world going to look like in a few months if the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow at this rate? On January 17th, there were 41 confirmed
Jared Kushner: A pivotal moment in the Middle East - CNN
Jared Kushner: A pivotal moment in the Middle East - CNN: President Donald Trump's senior adviser describes the administration's peace plan and says it will offer key benefits to both Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump to increase budget for human trafficking prosecutions | McClatchy Washington Bureau
Trump to increase budget for human trafficking prosecutions | McClatchy Washington Bureau: Trump will propose a budget increase of $42 million to aid human trafficking victims and boost investigations and prosecutions.
Crying Wolf on Impeachment - WSJ
Crying Wolf on Impeachment - WSJ: The whole affair was a series of major fouls. The best outcome is a speedy acquittal.
How to track the coronavirus: Dashboard delivers real-time view of the deadly virus | ZDNet
How to track the coronavirus: Dashboard delivers real-time view of the deadly virus | ZDNet: The live dashboard pulls data from sources like the World Health Organization to show all confirmed and suspected cases of coronavirus, along with recoveries and deaths.
DEF CON China conference put on hold due to coronavirus outbreak | ZDNet
DEF CON China conference put on hold due to coronavirus outbreak | ZDNet: DEF CON team is hoping that the 2019-nCoV outbreak will improve and they can go on as planned, or reschedule.
Coronavirus consequences: Will China still have a role in the next iPhone supply chain?
Coronavirus consequences: Will China still have a role in the next iPhone supply chain?
If
employees can't show up to work, then you can't build smartphones. How
do we deal with the threat of global supply chain disruption by highly
infectious pandemics?
https://www.zdnet.com/article/coronavirus-consequences-will-china-still-have-a-role-in-the-next-iphone-supply-chain/?ftag=TRE-03-10aaa6b&bhid=25151283725937532891160407260705
New coronavirus looks set to cause a pandemic – how do we control it? | New Scientist
New coronavirus looks set to cause a pandemic – how do we control it? | New Scientist: The new coronavirus looks set to go global as case numbers rise, but the variable way it seems to be spreading offers hope for keeping it under control
Millions of people fell for crypto-Ponzi schemes in 2019 - MIT Technology Review
Millions of people fell for crypto-Ponzi schemes in 2019 - MIT Technology Review: Cryptocurrency scammers stole more than $4 billion in 2019
Trump to reverse restrictions on landmine use, State Department cable says - Vox
Trump to reverse restrictions on landmine use, State Department cable says - Vox: Trump is going to reverse an Obama-era restriction on landmine stockpiling and use in war.
Here’s how we could go carbon neutral in 25 years - MIT Technology Review
Here’s how we could go carbon neutral in 25 years - MIT Technology Review: The real trick is putting biowaste to work.
Gawker’s nemesis is working on a social network offering access to the rich - MIT Technology Review
Gawker’s nemesis is working on a social network offering access to the rich - MIT Technology Review: Business and technology leaders are being asked to spend $100,000 buying in to the service.
WHO calls China coronavirus an international emergency, but opposes travel bans - MIT Technology Review
WHO calls China coronavirus an international emergency, but opposes travel bans - MIT Technology Review: The World Health Organization in Geneva just declared that the epidemic virus spreading out of China is an international public health emergency.The toll: So far, there are more than 8,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in 22 countries and 171 deaths, according to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
City of San Diego Pension Debt Now Over $3 Billion - San Diego News Desk
City of San Diego Pension Debt Now Over $3 Billion - San Diego News Desk: Written by Thomas Geiser In 2007, San Diego’s pension debt was $1.2 billion. This may not sound like much, but for a single city in California, this is an astronomical sum of money. This debt was caused by rapidly growing pension plans approved at a state level that have been snowballing out of control for …
Millennials Have Formed a Human Shield Around Bernie Sanders
Millennials Have Formed a Human Shield Around Bernie Sanders: Some Democrats are itching to mount an “Anyone But Bernie Sanders” campaign to prevent the “unelectable” socialist from winning the Democratic nomination. But any such effort would risk alienating younger voters that Joe Biden will need in November.
In Defense of Dershowitz: Critics Slam Harvard Professor For Ethical Representation and Intellectual Opinions – JONATHAN TURLEY
In Defense of Dershowitz: Critics Slam Harvard Professor For Ethical Representation and Intellectual Opinions – JONATHAN TURLEY: YouTube Screenshot Alan Dershowitz is hardly someone in need of the defense of others. However, there is a disturbing level of acrimony and personal attacks directed at the retired Harvard professor after he agreed to speak in defense of President Donald Trump. As I tweeted last night, I have strong disagreements with Dershowitz over his…
Inside Donald Trump's New Commission On Law Enforcement
Inside Donald Trump's New Commission On Law Enforcement: Attorney General William Barr swore in 18 members of a White House commission on policing—all of whom work in law enforcement.
Trump pushes forward conservative transformation of Medicaid
Trump pushes forward conservative transformation of Medicaid: A new block grant program, rejected by Congress just three years ago, will face swift resistance from Democrats and expected legal challenges.
Limited data on coronavirus may be skewing assumptions about severity
Limited data on coronavirus may be skewing assumptions about severity: Health officials in China are principally recording severe cases of disease, using a case definition that cannot capture patients with mild illness.
CDC records coronavirus case that spread within US | TheHill
CDC records coronavirus case that spread within US | TheHill: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus spreading from one person to another within the United States.
The World Health Organisation just declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency because it could spread to countries that aren't prepared | Business Insider
The World Health Organisation just declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency because it could spread to countries that aren't prepared | Business Insider: Doctors and public-health experts at the World Health Organisation in Geneva on Thursday declared the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a “public-health emergency of international concern.”
Immune systems not prepared for climate change
Immune systems not prepared for climate change: Researchers have for the first time found a connection between the immune systems of different bird species, and the various climatic conditions in which they live. The researchers at Lund University in Sweden believe that as the climate changes, some birds may be exposed to diseases that they are not equipped to handle.
Jonathan Parry | Short Cuts · LRB 24 January 2020
Jonathan Parry | Short Cuts · LRB 24 January 2020: Can Harry develop a model of self-funded service which milks his status yet does genuine charitable good? It is an...
US Loses Nearly 4 Million Jobs to China Since WTO Entry | naked capitalism
US Loses Nearly 4 Million Jobs to China Since WTO Entry | naked capitalism: More evidence, this time via China, on the costs globalization imposed on American workers.
Senate appears ready to reject witnesses in Trump impeachment trial, acquittal vote possible Friday - The Washington Post
Senate appears ready to reject witnesses in Trump impeachment trial, acquittal vote possible Friday - The Washington Post: The final outcome of Trump’s Senate trial has never been in doubt. Instead, the main drama has been how much more Republican senators want to learn about what Trump did before deciding whether he should be convicted.
The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/magazine/iraq-weapons-mass-destruction.html?te=1&nl=the-new%20york%20times%20magazine&emc=edit_ma_20200131&campaign_id=52&instance_id=15612&segment_id=20855&user_id=e6a9a97f971519b8818ba7420a6d576d®i_id=6074565520200131
Michael Bloomberg to visit Sacramento, Fresno in CA visit | The Sacramento Bee
Michael Bloomberg to visit Sacramento, Fresno in CA visit | The Sacramento Bee: Michael Bloomberg will visit Sacramento and Fresno during his fourth California trip since declaring his candidacy in late-November.
Face masks in many Sacramento stores are out of stock | The Sacramento Bee
Face masks in many Sacramento stores are out of stock | The Sacramento Bee: Those looking for surgical masks in Sacramento may have a hard time finding them. At least one supplier in the area is out of stock.
Thursday, January 30, 2020
John Roberts’ moment of truth at Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
John Roberts’ moment of truth at Donald Trump's impeachment trial.: It would be up to Roberts to decide whether, as presiding officer, he will break the tie.
Are Neocons Really Back In The Trump Administration?
Are Neocons Really Back In The Trump Administration?: There may be neoconservatives cheering that drone strike, as neoconservatives are wont to do, but it is unlikely that they are the ones driving policy.
WHO calls China coronavirus an international emergency, but opposes travel bans
President Trump Needs to Be Pro Life to Win in Nov. If That Changes, He’ll Change. | Rebecca Hamilton
President Trump Needs to Be Pro Life to Win in Nov. If That Changes, He’ll Change. | Rebecca Hamilton: President Trump’s political situation has led him to do a complete turn on the issue of abortion. He has gone from a man who favored partial birth abortion to one who spoke to the March for Life in poetic terms. If he were a normal person, that would signal a full-on conversion. If he occupied most jobs, it wouldn’t
Bishop Barron's Gospel Reflection January 29, 2020
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Edward Snowden: Glenn Greenwald shouldn’t be punished for revealing the truth - The Washington Post
Edward Snowden: Glenn Greenwald shouldn’t be punished for revealing the truth - The Washington Post: Brazil's charges against Glenn Greenwald are a threat to press freedoms everywhere.
CIA chief ‘behind Soleimani’s assassination’ killed in downed plane in Afghanistan – Middle East Monitor
CIA chief ‘behind Soleimani’s assassination’ killed in downed plane in Afghanistan – Middle East Monitor: [videopress BxGQKma9 w='600' permalink='false' hd='true' autoplay='true'] Russian intelligence sources have claimed that Michael D'Andrea, head of CIA operations in Iran and who orchestrated the ...
Coronavirus Fake News, False Miracle Cures Spreading on Social - Bloomberg
Coronavirus Fake News, False Miracle Cures Spreading on Social - Bloomberg: The new coronavirus roiling financial markets and prompting travel bans is taking on a life of its own on the internet, once again putting U.S.-based social media companies on the defensive about their efforts to curb the spread of false or dangerous information.
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation Summary | CDC
2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation Summary | CDC: 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Situation Summary
This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide updated information as it becomes available, in addition to updated guidance.
This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide updated information as it becomes available, in addition to updated guidance.
How China's Coronavirus Compares to the Flu, Ebola and SARS - Bloomberg
How China's Coronavirus Compares to the Flu, Ebola and SARS - Bloomberg: The mild nature of the infection has experts worried it will spread far, and fast.
Russia closes China land border to prevent spread of coronavirus
Russia closes China land border to prevent spread of coronavirus
https://www.ft.com/content/75adafb6-4306-11ea-abea-0c7a29cd66fe
Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia | NEJM
Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia | NEJM: Original Article from The New England Journal of Medicine — Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia
SARS and what I learned about keeping a business running during a coronavirus epidemic - SupChina
SARS and what I learned about keeping a business running during a coronavirus epidemic - SupChina: In the summer of 2002, the author launched a startup company in Beijing with some friends. By April 2003, nearly everyone in major Chinese cities was wearing face masks, transport links were suspended, public events were canceled, and many companies drastically reduced or even shut down operations. Some villages, towns, and even apartment complexes erected roadblocks to keep all outsiders away. China was in a similar state to what it is right now. This is what he learned about keeping a business running — and profitable — when there’s an epidemic raging around you.
China's Coronavirus Impacts Everything: What Your Business Should Do NOW | China Law Blog
China's Coronavirus Impacts Everything: What Your Business Should Do NOW | China Law Blog: Our international dispute resolution lawyers are involved in multiple cross border litigation matters hit hard by the coronavirus. By way of one
How Wuhan residents are trying to make the best of the coronavirus lockdown
How Wuhan residents are trying to make the best of the coronavirus lockdown
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/29/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-life-intl-hnk/index.html
Of quarantines and robots: How smart are US and Chinese efforts to combat the Wuhan coronavirus?
Of quarantines and robots: How smart are US and Chinese efforts to combat the Wuhan coronavirus?
https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/of-quarantines-and-robots-how-smart-are-us-and-chinese-efforts-to-combat-the-wuhan-coronavirus/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ThursdayNewsletter01302020&utm_content=DisruptiveTech_Quarantine_01282020
Beatitudes are a Christian's ID card, pope says at audience | National Catholic Reporter
Beatitudes are a Christian's ID card, pope says at audience | National Catholic Reporter: The beatitudes are a path to joy and true happiness mapped out by Jesus for all of humanity, Pope Francis said.
"It is difficult not to be touched by these words," the pope said Jan. 29 during his we...
"It is difficult not to be touched by these words," the pope said Jan. 29 during his we...
Looking for hope? This playlist can help
Looking for hope? This playlist can help: “Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a subtle art; many ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. First of all, you’re using someone else’s poetry to express how…
How saints and local parishes can help with loneliness-Aleteia
How saints and local parishes can help with loneliness-Aleteia: Not only has my “roaming” journey led me to join a discussion group in the next town over, but I’ve been searching for friends throughout the centuries as well.
In Search of a Silver Bullet - The Catholic Thing
In Search of a Silver Bullet - The Catholic Thing: Stephen P. White: The USCCB issues a voters’ guide, and voting remains a responsibility for which all must answer. Pray hard, then, for prudence.
2 Gay Students Are Suing a Seminary. Here’s Why It Matters.
2 Gay Students Are Suing a Seminary. Here’s Why It Matters.: Two gay students are suing Fuller Theological Seminary, the nation's largest interdenominational seminary.
Virginia lawmakers repeal abortion restrictions
Virginia lawmakers repeal abortion restrictions: Virginia’s legislature has voted to repeal restrictions on abortions in the state. The state’s governor is expected to sign the repeal into law soon.
Decision 2020: A Look at the Key Issues Voters Will Consider
Decision 2020: A Look at the Key Issues Voters Will Consider: How do the positions of the Republican and Democratic Parties compare?
Sanders campaign predicting victory in Iowa caucuses
Sanders campaign predicting victory in Iowa caucuses: IOWA CITY, Iowa — Bernie Sanders's campaign has been telling its aides that it expects to win the Iowa caucuses, setting expectations high in the final days leading up to the Feb. 3 contest.
GOP senators believe they have the votes to block witnesses | TheHill
GOP senators believe they have the votes to block witnesses | TheHill: It was clear to Senate Republicans on Wednesday after a morning meeting between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen.
Israeli Army Increases Presence in West Bank, Gaza Border | Asharq AL-awsat
Israeli Army Increases Presence in West Bank, Gaza Border | Asharq AL-awsat: Middle-East Arab News and Opinion - Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities
UN Draft Statement on Comprehensive Solution to Yemeni Crisis, Halting Escalation | Asharq AL-awsat
UN Draft Statement on Comprehensive Solution to Yemeni Crisis, Halting Escalation | Asharq AL-awsat: Middle-East Arab News and Opinion - Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, printed simultaneously each day on four continents in 14 cities
Can the US power sector significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2040? Not according to EIA
Can the US power sector significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2040? Not according to EIA
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/can-the-us-power-sector-significantly-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-2040-not/571381/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202020-01-30%20Utility%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:25408%5D&utm_term=Utility%20Dive
Judge approves PG&E Tubbs Fire settlements, while Newsom mulls state takeover | Utility Dive
Judge approves PG&E Tubbs Fire settlements, while Newsom mulls state takeover | Utility Dive: Utility industry news and analysis for energy professionals.
How will CA award delegates in 2020 primary election? | The Sacramento Bee
How will CA award delegates in 2020 primary election? | The Sacramento Bee: Bernie Sanders has surged to the top of the polls in California, overtaking Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren with the March 3 primary rapidly approaching.
Potential Cases Of Coronavirus Are Starting To Pop Up Literally All Over The United States – End Of The American Dream
Potential Cases Of Coronavirus Are Starting To Pop Up Literally All Over The United States – End Of The American Dream: Up to this point, the coronavirus outbreak has been primarily confined to China. Yes, there have been isolated cases all over the globe, and that has mostly
China, not America, will decide the fate of the planet | Financial Times
China, not America, will decide the fate of the planet | Financial Times: But its coal addiction and authoritarian system mean it will struggle to take a global lead
Trump's "Peace" Plan Risks Setting Fire to Israel, Palestine—and International Legal Order As We Know It | Opinion
Trump's "Peace" Plan Risks Setting Fire to Israel, Palestine—and International Legal Order As We Know It | Opinion: Many in the international community are deeply alarmed by the Trump/Kushner plan.
Around the halls: Brookings experts on the Middle East react to the White House’s peace plan
Around the halls: Brookings experts on the Middle East react to the White House’s peace plan: On January 28 at the White House, President Trump unveiled his plan for Middle East peace alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjanim Netanyahu. Brookings experts on the peace process and the region more broadly offer their initial takes on the announcement.
Russia Is Updating Their Nuclear Weapons: What Does that Mean for the Rest of Us? - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Russia Is Updating Their Nuclear Weapons: What Does that Mean for the Rest of Us? - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Russia is replacing older nuclear technology with more modern, more functional options. What are the implications for the United States, Europe, and the future of arms control?
Behind the scenes: In the locker room with Super Bowl-bound 49ers | The Sacramento Bee
Behind the scenes: In the locker room with Super Bowl-bound 49ers | The Sacramento Bee: It’s often easy to get George Kittle to pose for a picture.
Guest Post by Daniel Levy: Don't Call It a Peace Plan
Don’t Call It a Peace Plan
Ten ways Trump has launched a relentless assault on the very idea of Israeli-Palestinian peace
BY DANIEL LEVY
JANUARY 30, 2020
The drafting of Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements became my thing—sometimes in uniform serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), sometimes as a concerned citizen in informal and often clandestine talks, and sometimes as an adviser in the offices of the Israeli prime minister and then justice minister during official negotiations.
I was a negotiator at the agenda-setting Oslo B agreements under Yitzhak Rabin; submitted texts from afar to Clinton’s Camp David Summit with Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak; and then joined the follow-up talks between Israelis and Palestinians, in Taba in January 2001. I have participated in numerous track-two Israeli-Palestinian talks before becoming a lead drafter of the unauthorized Geneva Accord plan in December 2003. The picture of that signing ceremony of Israelis and Palestinians seeking a new way forward still hangs in my study.
Some of those texts saw the light of day and some were even signed with great pomp and ceremony in the presence of world leaders. None, of course, led to anything approaching peace.
In the intervening and often gloomy years of entrenched conflict and occupation, I often questioned the wisdom of what we had attempted. Those memories and uncertainties hit me like a punch to the gut when reading the lengthy White House plan issued Tuesday: “Peace to Prosperity: A Vision to Improve the Lives of the Palestinian and Israeli People.”
Had these talks after all been an exercise in softening the Palestinians, prematurely extracting concessions based on the ultimately dashed premise that an Israeli partner would emerge? In its outward appearance, the plan had such a familiar feel to it, like returning to a place of one’s childhood. But as I absorbed the words, nostalgia gave way to a feeling of having entered a topsy-turvy Alice in Wonderland. The language of peace had been cut and pasted, then put through a grinder, delivering an act of aggression dripping with the coarse syntax of racism. A hate plan, not a peace plan.
Here are ten ways in which the document released on Tuesday is a relentless assault on the very idea of Israeli-Palestinian peace:
1. Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Peace Plans
Terms of surrender and peace plans are not the same thing. But even terms of surrender have more chance of being durable if they are constructed in such a way as to maintain a semblance of dignity of the defeated party.
A peace plan has to be predicated on both sides saving face, on both sides being able to declare some kind of victory. The plan announced is a 180-page hate letter from the Americans (and by extension the Israelis) to the Palestinians. Until one reads the entire document (and unless one knows the history of the conflict), it is hard to convey the depth of contempt and scorn this text displays toward Palestinians. It oozes colonialist supremacism.
The text is drawn from the most unsophisticated and patronizing of Israeli PR talking points, an exclusivist narrative from start to finish. Only the Israeli side is deemed worthy by the American plan of empathy, of having its historical claims and justifications to the land and to nationhood embraced. According to the plan, the Palestinians exist to be slapped and pushed around. They are interlocutors only insofar as they can offer contrition and penance.
Per the text, Israel’s military actions are always defensive. Its relinquishing of any occupied territory is a generous concession, for this is “territory to which Israel has asserted valid legal and historical claims and which are part of the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.” Israel is depicted as an exemplary steward of a united Jerusalem, and its population is crowded into a narrow coastal strip (someone should really tell the White House that Israel has the most powerful military in the region, including a nuclear weapons capacity).
The Palestinians by contrast are a gang of miscreants, inciting, ungrateful, and corrupt. It is hard not to read in this text a white supremacist mindset. Racism comes to the fore in the plan’s adoption of the idea of transferring the political rights of residents of the Triangle area in Central Israel, where communities of Palestinian citizens of Israel live. Under land swaps, the Triangle could be transferred to the Palestinian state, thereby undermining the citizenship status of the entire Palestinian-Israeli community. The plan endorses the ethnocracy-over-democracy logic of Israel’s recently passed Nation State Law.
2. A Palestinian State? This Is a Bantustan Arrangement.
The visuals of the map proposed are a dead giveaway: a patchwork of Palestinian islands best viewed alongside the map of South Africa’s apartheid-era Bantustans. A Palestinian state is supposedly on offer, but that notion is drained of all possible meaning. The document even goes on a philosophical detour to tell us, “Sovereignty is an amorphous concept that has evolved over time.” Israel will control all security, territorial waters, airspace, and international crossings of this nonstate—and can even maintain a permanent naval blockade.
The lack of contiguity of this nonstate should be of no concern, after all, since the plan “maximizes ease of travel within the state of Palestine through state of the art infrastructure solutions comprised of bridges, roads and tunnels.” Palestinians will even have access roads so they can traverse the Jordan Valley, “subject to Israeli security requirements.” The enclaves of Palestinians in Israeli territories will unfortunately also only have access to the rest of “Palestine” subject to “Israeli security responsibility,” and in certain areas Israel can also decide zoning rules and building permits for Palestinians. Palestinians are all too familiar with what this matrix of control amounts to in practice.
The Palestinian nonstate will not have Jerusalem as its capital, for that is to remain the “undivided, sovereign capital of the State of Israel.” The Palestinians can have outer Jerusalem neighborhoods on the other side of where Israel has erected its security barrier, but don’t despair, the Palestinians can call this noncapital by whatever name they like.
Oh, and finally, the glorious nonstate of Palestine only comes into being if a series of preconditions are met, which “must be determined to have occurred by the State of Israel.”
3. Asks of Israel? There Are None.
Despite some tactical attempts in Israel, from both the left and right, to depict the U.S. document as demanding unwanted Israeli concessions, this is a slam dunk for Israeli maximalism. Israel is only asked to not do or give up things it has already declared no interest in. And if Israel should change its mind or should that not be enough, then there is a fallback; Israel can stop any implementation with the unilateral veto it is accorded in the plan.
The Jerusalem border will be set according to the barrier Israel already unilaterally built. There is no end to settlement growth. Israel has defined all the land it wants; it can both continue building there without disturbance and extend Israeli sovereignty in all such areas, with American endorsement.
The clause supposedly placing a moratorium on the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures has the following helpful override clause: “This moratorium does not apply to the demolition of any structure that poses a safety risk, as determined by the State of Israel, or punitive demolitions following acts of terrorism.”
Israel even gets to unilaterally override U.N. Security Council resolutions. The American conceptual map is designed “in the spirit of UNSCR 242”—the definitive blueprint to a two-state solution that was unanimously passed after the 1967 war—“and in a manner that meets the security requirements of the State of Israel and … takes into account the State of Israel’s valid legal historical claims.”
4. Humiliation, Part One: Refugees and Prisoners
Anyone familiar with the Palestinian experience will know the historic centrality for Palestinians of the refugee experience and the enormous shadow cast in contemporary Palestinian life by the phenomenon of so many Palestinians having served time in Israeli prisons. The latter is the consequence of a demeaning occupation that inevitably generates resistance, both violent and peaceful, and which has over the years criminalized any act of Palestinian political struggle.
The plan is uniquely invidious in its treatment of Palestinian refugees; they are not even accorded the kind of rhetorical empathy that is heaped on Israel by the bucketload. Israel’s tough line on refugee return is a matter of historical record, but in peace talks there have been at least attempts to soften the blow. Here, not so.
The text asserts that “there shall be no right of return by, or absorption of, any Palestinian refugee into the State of Israel.” Not only that, but Israel can decide how many and which Palestinian refugees could take up residence in the new nonstate of Palestine. “The rights of Palestinian refugees to immigrate into the State of Palestine shall be limited in accordance with agreed security arrangements … and regulated by various factors including increased security risks to the State of Israel.”
The final insult is reserved for the compensation file. Compensation implies suffering. It implies humanity. To remove any such impression, we are told that funds would be far better off “if used to implement the Trump economic plan.” All that is missing is for that to include a shiny new Trump hotel!
When it comes to prisoners, standard practice when moving from war to peace is for those imprisoned in the context of liberation struggles to be released, sometimes subject to processes of truth and reconciliation. Not in this hate plan. Prisoners involved in murder, attempted murder, or conspiracy to murder are excluded, making the entire prisoner clause an exercise in humiliation rather than reconciliation.
5. Security and Control
This is an easy one, as only Israelis are worthy of security, so only Israel needs to have security capacities and control. The most far-reaching articulation of Israel’s security needs is embraced and then allowed to run wild throughout the document, with sideswipes taken at Palestinians wherever possible. At least there is no attempt to obfuscate here: “The security portion of this vision was developed based on our best understanding of the security requirements of the State of Israel,” which is also defined so that “all of Iran’s activity must be taken into account in determining the State of Israel’s security needs.” In short, the Israeli military can continue to operate everywhere with impunity, and the Palestinian nonstate will not only be demilitarized but will also serve as a subcontractor for the Israeli military in perpetuity.
With Israel in control of the land, sea, air, and border crossings, more should not be necessary. But in case Big Brother might miss anything, the text stipulates that “solely as determined by the State of Israel, the State of Israel will rely on blimps, drones and similar aerial equipment for security purposes.” Military occupation, everywhere, forever.
The document goes on to tell us that the Palestinians should be grateful because “the State of Palestine will not be burdened with such costs (defense), because it will be shouldered by the State of Israel.” American generosity apparently knows no bounds, because the security plan outlined “results in billions of dollars in savings for international donors in lieu of creating a new multinational security force.” Thank you, America.
6. Gaza: You Guessed It, All the Palestinians’ Fault
It is one of the most overcrowded spaces in the world, and most of its inhabitants were expelled from their original homes during the Nakba. Several years ago, a report by the United Nations suggested that by this year, 2020, Gaza might become unhabitable in key areas of human security.
When Israel did withdraw from Gaza in 2005, it imposed a permanent closure and stated that the withdrawal would be conducted under punitive conditions. Since then, in various rounds of clashes with Israel, at least 5,514 Palestinians, of which 2,667 were civilians, have been killed, according to the Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem. Over the past two years, marches of return have been rebuffed by Israel with fatalities numbering over 250 among Palestinian civilians, including many children, and over 30,000 injured. Surely even the Trump administration can find some empathy for Gaza? Nope.
Everything is the fault of the Palestinians. Gazans and the leadership in Gaza carry, we are told, the sole and exclusive responsibility for their circumstances. Israel is pristine, faultless. No conflict situation in the world works that way, and no attempt to resolve a conflict can make such an assertion. The U.S. text also asserts that “significant improvements for the people of Gaza will not occur until the full demilitarization of Gaza.” That will not and even should not happen; more misery for Gazans is on offer.
7. Palestinian Homo economicus
Significantly, more than half of the document issued on Tuesday, 124 out of 181 pages, is devoted to what is called an “Economic Framework,” full of McKinsey-style presentations on “unleashing economical potential” and “enhancing Palestinian governance.” This is basically the re-release of the easily forgettable Manama “Peace to Prosperity” document.
There are two minor problems with this glorious future heralded for the Palestinians. First of all, it ain’t going to happen—these points are part of a plan that will not be implemented. We have been here before, more than once. A Palestinian economy that remains under occupation cannot flourish, and the plan fails to recognize this simple truism. The plan guarantees permanent occupation. Ipso facto the economic plan is dead on arrival.
The second problem is that this indulges in pure fantasy by treating the Palestinians not as a nation with collective national aspirations but as Homo economicus, a collection of individuals who make perfectly rational economic choices and whose horizons do not extend beyond economic opportunities for a better material life.
Attempts to buy off and define a glorious neoliberal future for the Palestinians are as unoriginal as efforts to generate economic growth under occupation. Neither has a great track record, to put it mildly.
8. Humiliation Revisited: It’s Everywhere
This hateful text never misses an opportunity to degrade the Palestinians. It is hard not to reach the conclusion that this is intentional. For example, the only mention of respect for human rights in the document is as one of the preconditions that the Palestinians must meet before being granted their nonstate!
In several places, the plan suggests its generosity to the Palestinians by allowing them special arrangements and special access to areas that are anyway part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. For instance, while the Jordan Valley will be under Israeli sovereignty, “notwithstanding such sovereignty, Israel should work with the Palestinian government to negotiate an agreement in which existing agricultural enterprises owned or controlled by Palestinians shall continue, without interruption or discrimination pursuant to appropriate licences or leases granted by the State of Israel.” How dismal.
Similar arrangements are proposed in the Dead Sea area of Palestine, which again will be Israel, but the Palestinians will be allowed to “develop a resort area in the north of the Dead Sea without prejudice to the State of Israel’s sovereignty at such location.” Likewise, a special tourist area is designated in the north Jerusalem neighbourhood of Atarot, again not part of Israel, not your business.
Palestinians are banned from pursuing recourse in international organizations or the International Criminal Court. And only Palestinians must end incitement toward their neighbors; no such stipulation is made of the Israelis. And the list of humiliations goes on.
9. Israel as Judge and Jury
Serious attempts to resolve long-standing conflicts require an implementation mechanism that is resilient in the face of mutual distrust. That would normally then put in place a combination of disincentives to backsliding as well as third-party guarantors.
In keeping with the motif running through the Trump document, any such notion is eschewed. Israel gets to decide everything, sometimes with the Americans. When it comes to moving toward the formation of the Palestinian nonstate on offer, the preconditions “must be determined to have occurred by the State of Israel and the United States jointly, acting in good faith, after consultation with the Palestinian Authority.” Israel has a veto. If there ever were anything unpalatable to Israel in this plan, it would never be implemented.
10. Jordan and the End Goal of This Plan
One has to assume that the plan’s authors have one of two scenarios in mind, and those unsurprisingly offer a win-win for Israel. In one scenario, the plan is implemented in accordance with Israel’s interpretation, and it succeeds in formalizing Greater Israel alongside Palestinian Bantustans. That is presumably what Trump anticipates—that the ongoing squeeze on Palestinians might push them to sign off on such a deal. While that is not inconceivable, such a leadership would have a serious legitimacy problem and struggle to stay in power.
The more likely scenario (one imagines intended by at least some of the plan’s architects) is that the Palestinians are blamed for rejecting the plan, and Israel together with the U.S. moves ahead anyway in implementing its sovereignty and permanent control, perhaps beyond even what is envisaged in this document.
One option that has long been a hobbyhorse of the Israeli right would be to involve Jordan in realizing Palestinian political representation. That is more than hinted at in the document where there is a reference to Jordan “by virtue of territorial proximity, cultural affinity and family ties” playing a “distinctive role in assisting the Palestinians on a range of issues” that interestingly enough include “institution building and municipal services.” That, in addition to a separate mention of a Jordanian role in the security realm, should be a wake-up call to the Hashemite Kingdom as being one way in which Israel might want to force the issue of Jordan running cover for the apartheid plan on offer.
The one saving grace in this otherwise appalling spectacle was that the plan’s introduction was happening on a day when the U.S. president was scrambling to keep his impeachment pushback strategy on track. Simultaneously, the Israeli attorney general was filing an indictment against Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Jerusalem district court on three corruption cases, for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Taken together, it suggests that the plan might go down with its co-presenters.
Nineteen years ago this month, at Taba, I sat at the negotiating table, sensing that we might be genuinely close to an agreement. I had the privilege of working alongside a team of patriotic Israelis, many of whom genuinely sought understandings with the Palestinians, partly out of a sense of shared humanity but also very much because that would serve the Israeli interest. A mutually dignified way forward is still possible and will still best serve Israelis.
But none of those interests are served by the hate plan issued on January 28 at the White House. Following its publication, Palestinians and Israelis may have to look for a very different approach if our shared humanity, mutual dignity, and the need for equality are to be addressed.
Daniel Levy is the president of the U.S./Middle East Project, based in New York and London, and is a former Israeli negotiator.
Trump Channels Karl Marx in his Plans for Israel-Palestine
JANUARY 29, 2020
Written by Daniel Levy
It
would be nice to dismiss White House announcement on Israel/Palestine
on Tuesday as simply a scam, offering more material to political
satirists and comedy writers than to policymakers and conflict
resolution practitioners in the Middle East. Nothing to see here, move
on.
The
timing hardly adds to the seriousness of the equation with President
Trump in the midst of an impeachment trial, and Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu having an indictment filed against him on Tuesday by the
Israeli Attorney General on three corruption cases for bribery, fraud,
and breach of trust. To round it off, the key protagonists invited to
discuss the plan with Trump, were, wait for it, the leaders of Israel’s
main ruling and opposition parties. Not a Palestinian in sight.
One
could also dismiss today’s festivities on the grounds that it changes
nothing — Israel will be in control just as it is today and will still
have no answer for what to do with millions of Palestinians. Those
Palestinians will remain stateless and without basic freedoms or rights,
no more willing to accept that permanent enslavement than they are
today.
When
the U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv and recognized Israel’s claims
in Jerusalem, there was no international stampede to follow suit.
Nothing changed in Jerusalem — the approximately 350,000 Palestinian
Jerusalemites are still there, still part of the reality of the urban
fabric of that city, still awaiting representation and equality.
But
this is about more than the Israeli right and center managing to reach
understandings with the Republican Party. The plan announced today
cannot be so easily dismissed.
The
long document released today is nothing short of an American
declaration of war against the Palestinians, which is likely to have
serious and long-lasting consequences. Contempt for the very humanity of
Palestinians seeps from every page of a plan that is intentionally
designed to be rejected by one side in order to provide cover for Israel
to move forward with its own maximalist intentions.
Except
this is not actually an American plan at all. It is a move that takes
to a whole new level America handing its own national security over to
unreliable allies who harbor their own interests, often at odds with
those of the U.S.
For
this plan is nothing more than the rehashing and rebranding of a
proposal Netanyahu offered in a speech more than a decade ago at
Bar-Ilan University, shortly after he resumed the office of the
premiership in 2009 and from which he has not budged ever since. Go back
and read that speech.
The narrative is the same narrative and the parameters are the same
parameters, updated to reflect Netanyahu’s confidence in assuming even
more extremist positions.
The
core elements of the Netanyahu plan were all on display: A Palestinian
entity that can be called a state but is de facto nothing of the sort;
recognition and legitimacy being accorded only to Jewish rights and
historic claims; nothing to address the Palestinian experience or
Palestinian rights, notably including those of the refugees; no
withdrawal of settlements; exclusive Israeli control; and a focus on
economic peace and projects for regional normalization.
The
plan served to crystallize a White House policy that had already been
implemented over the past three years with the embassy relocation to
Jerusalem, the endorsement of settlement annexation and redefining of
the U.S. position on the settlements, the de-funding of the United
Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), and the
de-recognition of Palestinian national representation with the closure
of the PLO mission in Washington, DC.
Whether
intentionally or otherwise, Trump is applying a distinctively Marxist
approach to Israel/Palestine, heightening the contradictions and
sharpening the tensions, not between labor and capital as Karl Marx
foretold would be the fate of late stage capitalism, but rather, in
accelerating the fundamental choices that confront Israelis,
Palestinians and Americans.
The
plan is intended to shake things up, and that is likely to be achieved,
just perhaps not in the way its architects envisaged. The international
reaction may have been soft, a mixture of supportive politeness and
skepticism, that is a consequence of this era in which every country has
to manage its own challenges and equities with a U.S. administration
prone to unprecedented acts of Mafia-style bullying and illogical and
unpredictable treatment of friend and foe alike. Nevertheless, make no
mistake, this plan is intended to be a game- changer.
Attempts
to depict these proposals as making hard asks of both sides are
willfully dishonest. Only things that Israel has already agreed to and
even implemented are requested of it — in the meantime, Israel can
essentially build in the Occupied Territories wherever it has displayed
an interest in doing so, continue to demolish Palestinian homes (just
under new pretexts), and exclude from Jerusalem those parts it has
already positioned outside of its unilateral separation barrier/wall. In
the future envisaged by the plan, Israel can continue to enjoy control
over security everywhere, extend its sovereignty wherever it has shown a
desire to do so, maintain control of air space and territorial waters,
implement the political transfer of some of its Palestinian citizenry,
receive economic rewards for its crimes, and continue to act as judge
and jury on Palestinian performance.
The
edifice of a quarter-century-long peace process was already fragile,
rather discredited on all sides and perhaps even collapsing beyond
repair. Trump has now taken a sledgehammer to that process. Perhaps the
exposure of the peace process in all its inadequacies is overdue, but,
in replacing it with the vision of Israel’s hardliners and the permanent
disenfranchisement of the Palestinians, there will be consequences for
all parties, including the Americans.
The
center of gravity of the Israeli political debate has for some years
now been less between doves and hawks and more a tactical disagreement
on how far and how fast to go within a consensus around permanent
Israeli control over Palestinian territories and the evisceration of any
genuine two-state option.
The
competing camps pit the gradualists — in favor of incrementally
extending the matrix of control over Palestinians under cover of a peace
process — against the impatient camp. That second grouping — the
annexationist and victory-now camp — has become empowered and gained
pre-eminence under Trump and his ambassador to Israel, David Friedman,
alongside the influence of key Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, and the
pro-settler Evangelical base. Their immediate concern is that the
opportunity that exists under Trump may expire after November’s U.S.
election or even sooner if Netanyahu falls from power and Gantz urges a
more gradualist and cautious approach. Hence, their push to have this
plan released now — even if they quibble over the details, for mostly
tactical reasons.
The
boost that the extremist Israeli position has received also carries
destabilizing implications for Jordan and implicitly contains the seed
of an expulsionist future logic vis-Ã -vis the Palestinians. Following
today’s U.S. announcement, the victory-now camp is ready to go for
broke. Netanyahu’s promise, within hours of the U.S. plan’s release, to
immediately extend Israeli sovereignty over Israeli settlements, is a
signal of that. But this risks bringing the heightened contradictions
inside Israel, to possibly a breaking point.
For
the subjugation of the Palestinians only works until the day it works
no longer. When that moment comes, if, as in any conflict, the more
powerful party has left itself with no off-ramp, no exit strategy, then
it poses a potentially existential problem. By annexing territory,
Israel is formalizing the apartheid regime warned against by two former
Israeli prime ministers, Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert. Israel is burning
that off-ramp in irreversible ways and now with unprecedented
encouragement from the Trump administration, which is not known for
strategic thinking.
For
the Palestinians, the negative clarity on display in Washington DC
throws an already harsh dilemma into even sharper relief. The PLO
accepting a state on 22 percent of the historic land, less than half of
what was designated by the U.N. Partition Plan, was already a painful
and controversial concession. Even that shrunken state of Palestine is
no longer on offer; rather, a patchwork of Bantustans with no
sovereignty and under permanent Israeli control. This naturally will
accelerate the internal Palestinian debate over what to do next.
With
a viable Palestinian state now taken off the table by the U.S., the
already ascendant position among Palestinians — of striving for equal
rights within the one political space that Israel has created and
engaging in popular civil resistance — is likely to gain further
traction. After Tuesday’s announcement, the idea that there can be a
Palestinian strategy based on Washington delivering Israel for a
dignified two-state peace deal belongs to the realm of fantastical
delusion.
The
U.S. may have exacerbated the power imbalance further in Israel’s favor
but it will not have compelled Palestinians to abandon their own rights
and freedoms. No people give up its yearning for dignity and equality.
The conclusion likely to be drawn over time is that those goals will
have to be pursued utilizing new strategies, new tools and with a new
destination in mind. The Palestinian leadership may continue to issue
tired and hollow political threats to close the Palestinian Authority or
end security cooperation, while effectively maintaining a status-quo
posture. But the moment when Palestinians go beyond that and embrace a
strategy of disruption has surely been hastened.
Finally,
America is facing the denouement of its own attempt to straddle
unwavering support for Israel with a supposed interest in peace-making.
The current White House team may see Washington’s interest as aligning
with anti-democratic, hard-line forces globally and abandoning a
multilateral and rules-based international order – whether in the Middle
East or beyond. But that is a proposition unlikely to serve America in
the long term.
If
and when America returns to a different approach, it will still be hard
to ignore the contradictions exposed under Trump. On one level,
Trump’s plan is an extreme departure from previous U.S. positions. On
yet another, however, it lays bare the fundamental contradiction that
has long been at the heart of U.S. policy. By enabling Israeli impunity,
by offering Israel cover even as Israel was violating the very policies
America claimed to support, the U.S. was undermining its own two-state
vision.
American
complicity in not holding Israel accountable for preventing peace has
not only stymied any honest political conversation inside Israel about
the choices it faces. It also has guaranteed that there cannot be
progress, whether towards an eventual agreement of two sovereign states
or, if that is beyond redemption, to a future dispensation guaranteeing
equal rights for all.
The
farce of constantly allowing Israel to create new realities on the
ground, even when they clearly defy U.S. policy, and of then insisting
the Palestinians accept and recalibrate their positions accordingly has
been exposed in all its absurdity by the Trump plan. America will soon
discover how well its interests are served by owning the sponsorship
rights to the Sparta settler state of Greater Israel that it has just
endorsed.
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