THOUGHTS ON BLAIR AS QUARTET ENVOY

Blair's Mission: Impossible - Youssef Ibrahim
The move to hire Blair by the Quartet would have been amusing if it were not so obviously misguided. What's the man supposed to do? The Palestinian Arab territories are run by two warring mini-authorities. Neither side has any constituents who can make a deal, keep one if it were made, or even deliver on any pact with other Arabs, let alone with the Israelis. That has been true for 60 years. In this circus, Abbas has been nothing but a convenient distraction. He has never commanded anyone and, like most so-called Palestinian Arab leaders, he is just one of a series of tired, old faces - unable to manage, but unwilling to move on.

So Blair's first mission will be to reconcile the Palestinian Arabs - something that the Saudis, the Egyptians, and the Jordanians have been unable to do since 1948, when Britain gave up its mandate to run the Palestinian Arab territories. Blair has nothing special to contribute to this mess. Attempting to fiddle - again - with the one Middle East problem that has been a constant since 1948 is glaringly artificial and pretentious. Tony, we love you. Please get a life. (New York Sun)

See also Four Reasons Why Blair Is the Perfect Envoy - Anshel Pfeffer (Jerusalem Post)

Advice for Blair: Stop Patronizing the Palestinians - Gerald M. Steinberg
Real Israeli-Palestinian peace requires the type of societal transformations that take many years. This process will also require a basic change in international perceptions with respect to Palestinians. In particular, the patronizing and ineffective emphasis on Palestinian suffering and helplessness that has dominated actions since 1948 must end. Palestinians must be given the opportunity and the external push to take control over their own destiny, and stop seeing themselves simply as passive victims. The rampant corruption and failed leadership in Palestinian society is, to a large degree, a product of the massive welfare system in effect since the 1948 war. (ICA/JCPA)

The Real Obstacle to Peace: Genocidal Jihad - Saul Singer
The first thing Tony Blair should do is rethink the whole concept of a "Mideast envoy." What the job needs most now is not a mediator but a truth-teller. The more Israel embraced Palestinian statehood, the more violent and radicalized the Palestinians have become. During last summer's war in Lebanon, Blair hit on the real obstacle to peace. He said Hizbullah was not fighting "for the coming into being of a Palestinian state, but for the going out of being of an Israeli state." The struggle for peace is no longer between Israelis and Palestinians. It is between the jihadi axis (Hamas, Hizbullah, al-Qaeda, Syria and Iran) and the West, moderate Arabs and Israel, who want to resolve the Palestinian problem and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Blair's first task for peace should be to expose the real obstacle to peace: the jihadi front's genocidal dream of destroying Israel. (Washington Post)