For my sins, I’m a fan of irony in its many forms. The example which just occurred to me is the quite unintended symmetry between the impeachment currently winding down in the Senate and Trump’s new peace plan for Israel and the Palestinian Arabs.
You’ve seen more than you need of the impeachment. If you’d like to learn the outlines of the new peace plan Power Line’s John Hinderaker has a summary. I bet you’re wondering what these two things could possibly have in common.
The answer: both were undertaken by people who didn’t expect them to succeed. Democrats passed impeachment in the House knowing there was virtually no chance it would pass in the Senate. Trump and son-in-law Kushner launched this peace plan knowing there is virtually no chance the Palestinians will accept it.
In both cases the intent is to accomplish something else by going through the motions, appearing to be serious about whatever is put forward. We know the Democrats’ impeachment hope is to damage Trump’s chances of reelection in November.
What Trump & Co. hope to achieve with the Peace for Palestine plan is less clear. Perhaps it is to demonstrate to the world that the roadblock to a reasonable settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian grievances is Palestinian intransigence.
The trouble with this reasoning is that those willing to blame the Palestinians already do so. Demonstrating once again Arab unwillingness to settle is preaching to the choir.
Everybody else has their fingers in their ears and is loudly singing “la la la la.” They refuse to listen because, alas, they have accepted the Arabs’ belief they are the victims in this conflict.
