President Barack Obama cited Northern Ireland as an example of how conflict can be ended when speaking at the UN yesterday.
Referring to the Middle East Obama stated:
"Now, I know that many are frustrated by the lack of progress. I assure you, so am I. But the question isn’t the goal that we seek -- the question is how do we reach that goal. And I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades. Peace is hard work. Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the United Nations -- if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now. Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians who must live side by side.
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"Ultimately, it is the Israelis and the Palestinians -- not us –- who must reach agreement on the issues that divide them: on borders and on security, on refugees and Jerusalem.
"Ultimately, peace depends upon compromise among people who must live together long after our speeches are over, long after our votes have been tallied. That’s the lesson of Northern Ireland, where ancient antagonists bridged their differences. That’s the lesson of Sudan, where a negotiated settlement led to an independent state. And that is and will be the path to a Palestinian state -- negotiations between the parties...”
3 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.BishopSean | Sep 24, 2011, 03:54 PM EDT
Interesting analogy of President Obama; but every analogy limps. In Ireland, both parties knew all along from their shared Christian-based morality (even if only as a vague memory), that unequal rights for Catholics was a travesty. In the Middle East, no matter how long populations (e.g., Jews and Christians) were there prior to Islam, Muslim theology and the Koran divide people into the House of Submission/Peace (Islam), and the House of War. If indigenous non-Muslims continue to live in Muslim majority-ruled countries, they must: either convert voluntarily to Islam; or pay punitive taxes and be excluded from many professions; or be coerced into conversion by threats of death for oneself and/or family members. Freedoms of expression, conscience and religion and equal protection under law for women are not yet part of the scenario of the Arab Spring, nor for Palestine. Neither Hamas nor FATAH has agreed yet to a Two-State solution in which Israel can exist as an autonomous Jewish State with the rights it now recognizes for all its citizens. Why not make Palestine agree to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a condition for U.N. membership?
GeorgeDillon | Sep 22, 2011, 02:29 PM EDT
Towngate, I find myself agreeing with you. Obama's performance on the question of freedom for the Palestinians has been deplorable. The whole world is sickened by his hypocrisy--witness the freeze-out Obama received at the UN. He kowtows to the Israelis--add this to the long list of kowtowing to the Republicans on the economy. He doesn't deserve re-election--progressives such as myself have no reason to support him any more. I'm for Ron Paul.
Towngate | Sep 22, 2011, 01:58 PM EDT
AS in the meantime this Great Clown slams the American Veto Door on any hope of progress at the 'United Nations'! Obama ~ your puppet strings are showing!