Turning Point?
I'd say only for this latest round, possibly.
What would bring peace to the region? Israel's withdrawal to '67 lines, or '49 ceasefire lines, or '47 UN partition lines? I doubt if any withdrawal to any of these lines will ever bring a "durable and lasting peace."
One of the continuing demands of Palestinians is the return of all Palestinian refugees to areas including those within the '47 UN demarcation lines. But even those on the left of the left in Israel like Yossi Baylin reject the idea. So no matter what happens in the near term, no progress for "peace" is likely so long as Palestinian leaders continue to hold on to the refugee card. From what I understand that is mainly what torpedoed Barak's offer for peace at Camp David, even though Nobel Prize winner for peace Arafat didn't even offer a counter proposal.
I have a friend whose parents fled Iraq in the early '50s. Jews had lived in Mesopotamia for 2.500 years or more, since the days the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel were written. There were many hundreds of thousands of these Middle Eastern Jews who left their homes as "refugees" and were eventually absorbed by Israel. But of all the many displaced people groups of the '40s, in Europe and the Middle East, who were accorded the title "refugee" the displaced Palestinians were not absorbed by the local populations. Instead they were given domicile in camps. That's 60 years of waiting in a "refugee" camp, including in PA controlled Gaza, after the Oslo Accords.
Israel recognized a former terrorist organization, the PLO, as a legitimate partner for peace on the basis of that organization's pledge to recognize the legitimacy of the state of Israel and renounce calls for Israel's destruction. The Palestinian National Charter of the PLO at that time contained specific articles that called for the destruction of Israel by armed conflict. An explicit provision of the Oslo accords of 1993 between Israel and the PLO was the PLO's assurance that those articles would be removed or changed. Though promises were made that they would be changed, to this day the articles in question remain in place. That's not a reassuring sign. I personally don't see how Hamas or Hezbollah, both religiously motivated, will be more agreeable to the existence of Israel when the secular PLO has been unable to do so completely.
It also seems notable to me that just prior to the recent events on Israel's borders, Iran and its quest for nuclear capability was on the frontpage. But of course Israel making war is sure to steal all headlines. Iran denies the holocaust and publically threatens Israel with complete annihilation.
On the other hand it's worth mentioning again that Egypt signed peace accords recognizing Israel in 1979, as did Jordan in 1995. And no civil war erupted in Israel from Jerusalem's forced removal of Israelis from settlements in Gaza, settlements that Israeli governments right and left had sponsored. So Israel is not obstinately against any approach for peace.
Regarding recent events, xrtoronto also asked in another thread if anyone remembers the Liberty attack, no doubt wanting to throw that event into the mix of current affairs to lead to more bad taste in the mouths of readers here towards Israel. Well why didn't you ask about this one too?
April 17, 2002: Four Canadian soldiers - Sgt. Marc D. Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith -- were killed and eight wounded near Kandahar, Afghanistan. They were on a night-time, live-fire exercise when a U.S. jet fighter pilot mistook them for enemy personnel and bombed them.
Or this one.
1988 the US Navy missile ship Vincennes downs an Iranian civilian airliner.
But similar incidents couldn't be a horrible mistake when Israelis are pulling the trigger. It must be premeditated.
I wonder if all Canadian forces such as are operating in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom have never injured or killed any innocent Afghanis. I certainly hope they have not. But weapons of war are designed for maximum effect, sometimes unwanted.
May 23, 2006: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai calls for an investigation after U.S. commanders call in air strikes during a gun battle with Taliban fighters in a Panjwai district village during the late hours of May 21 and the early hours of May 22. At least 16 civilians died. Canadian political leaders admitted such incidents made it more difficult to win the "hearts and minds" of the Afghan people.
March 14, 2006: Canadian troops shoot and kill an Afghan man in a taxi that had ventured too close to their convoy. As compensation, the man's family asks to be moved to Canada and educated. The military reports firing warning shots in 10 incidents in the previous several months.
The tenor of xrtoronto and others is that Israel could care less about civilian casualties. What emerges about people like xrtoronto is the same double-standard approach that disqualifies one from serious discussion.
