Peace when?

Our esteemed president, Shimon Peres, made an interesting statement today:

"I believe, we can make peace now with Palestinians"

This would be a laudable sentiment if not for the inclusion of that troubling little word:  'now'.

Let's leave aside the fact that Peres has had no real experience in making peace with the Palestinians.  Heck, nobody has!  While many have tried, nobody has actually successfully made anything resembling peace with them... not the Jordanians... not the Lebanese... and certainly not any of the various Palestinian factions themselves. 

But hey, there is something vaguely comforting, in a Mr. Rogers kinda way, about our president extending a theoretical olive branch and keeping alive the idea that Israel might someday, somehow, be the first to pull off this trick.

But why use the word 'now'?  Is there something we're missing? 

Is there something about the 5 dead Palestinians (and more than 30 wounded) from today's internecine warfare in Gaza that would offer some glimmer of hope for a stable peace partner any time soon?

Is there something about the shrapnel pattern from today's rocket strikes (6 so far) - like tea leaves at the bottom of a cup - that portent a growing willingness on the part of the Palis to respect Israel's territorial sovereignty and the right of our civilian populations to live safely in their homes?

Is there even a tiny sign of sign of willingness on the part of the 'moderate' Palestinian leadership to remove language from their charter calling for the destruction of Israel, and even tacit recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish State within secure borders?

I was once talking with a friend about what to look for when hiring tradesmen (plumbers, carpenters, electricians, brick/stone masons, etc.).  He said to be wary of anyone who mentions how many years of experience they have as part of their pitch. 

You see, some will have 5 or 10 years of experience, with the breadth of expertise that goes along with such a respectable span... while others who brag of '20 years experience' actually have had only one year of experience, repeated twenty times over. 

The 5 or 10 year veteran has made his/her mistakes and likely learned from them.  The one who has repeated that first year of experience twenty times over without gaining any real experience or practical knowledge is still, at best, a journeyman and probably has learned nothing from the mistakes he/she repeats from year to year. 

A perfect example of such a journeyman (other than Peres, of course) is PM Olmert's hapless plan to release yet another 400 prisoners in return for, well... nothing.  A 'goodwill gesture'.  Isn't the point of a goodwill gesture to get the other side to make a similar gesture?  After all these 'gestures' isn't anyone getting the sense that the only gesture we're likely to see from the Palestinians is a raised middle finger?

FOreget concrete gestures... just listen to what our 'peace partners' are saying. 

Today Saeb Erakat, the top Palestinian negotiator, rejected Israel's demand that the Palestinians acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state, saying:  "There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined".

Can't argue with that... oh, wait... except for:

• Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
• Arab Republic of Egypt
• The Holy See (Vatican City)
• Islamic Republic of Iran
• Islamic Republic of Pakistan
• Islamic Republic of Mauritania

And add to those the countries that are almost exclusively Muslim and/or have Islamic law as the prevailing legal and cultural force*:

• Algeria (99%)
• Azerbaijan (93.4%)
• Djibouti (94%)
• Gambia (90%)
• Iraq (97%)
• Jordan (95%)
• Libya (97%)
• Maldives (99.41%)
• Saudi Arabia (89% but 100% of citizens are Muslims since this is a requirement for citizenship)
• Somalia (99.9%)
• Syria (90%)
• Tajikistan (90%)
• Tunisia (98%)
• Turkey (99%)
• Turkmenistan (89%)
• Western Sahara (99.8%)
• Yemen (99%)

So yeah, I'm not sure that Mr. Erakat's statement is entirely correct.

I'm not saying that peace with the Palestinians is an impossibility.   But forgive me if I don't look to our cadre of journeymen politicians who brag about their many years of diplomatic experience... yet who are still making the same stupid mistakes Israel they made twenty years ago.

I mean seriously, after all these years is it possible that Israel is still making unilateral concessions just to get the Palestinians to recognize our right to exist?  And they are still saying no? 

Maybe it's time to take the word 'now' out of our aspirations for peace.

* Source