The Third Intifada

Targeting the US / Israeli Relationship

by RAMI G. KHOURI
CounterPunch

"....The most important new development that future historians will record is that this last week in September represented the moment when the Arab-Israeli conflict structurally transformed into the Arab-Israeli/American conflict, because of the profound and explicit manner in which the U.S. government has come down on the side of Israel. The United States historically has tried, without much success but with visible endeavor nevertheless, to express its support for Israel’s survival and security while also trying to mediate a resolution of the conflict that sees the birth of a Palestinian state in much of the 1967 occupied lands. That balancing act, unconvincing as it was, is formally dead for now — repeatedly shot in the heart by a firing squad of American politicians who have unleashed volleys of shotguns at the weak and doomed phenomenon that was once called “American mediation”.....

These are historic days in the Middle East, on every front:

1. within Arab countries,

2. in Turkish relations in the region,

3. in the Arab-Israeli conflict,

4. in Arab interactions with the United States,

5. and perhaps also soon in new roles for Europe or Russia in some form.

The synthesis of these five domains will take some years to become clear. When that happens, we will probably look back on this month of September 2011 as the critical turning point in the behavior of the key actors."