Robert Malley Speaks at Cornell

Yesterday afternoon a few of us from the Review had the pleasure of hearing a talk by Robert Malley, former Clinton advisor at Camp David and current program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group in Washington, D.C. The subject of his lecture: the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Malley began by saying that many tunnel-visioned perceptions drive the current discourse on the conflict, and that it is impossible to properly understand the issue and solve the problem without first understanding how both sides are living the experience. The Israelis see the conflict as a series of aggressions and rejections by Palestine and other Arab neighbors, all of them questioning the legitimacy of the one place on earth where Israelis feel protected. On the other end of the spectrum, the Palestinians experience is one marked by constant aggression and occupation by Israel for land that originally belonged to the Palestinians.

We are at a moment of great paradox, according to Malley. Never has there been greater clarity and consensus about the necessity of a two state solution. Although there may be disagreements on the details, logical solutions are on the table. Why, then, with so much consensus, is everything going in the other direction? Malley cited several reasons: 1) The collapse of U.S. credibility as a peace broker in the region. 2) Fractionalization of Palestinian movement and the growing physical divide between the West Bank and Gaza. 3) The fact that every recent Israeli government has fallen apart as it tried to touch the peaces process.

So, with so many obstacles, how will this conflict be eventually resolved? Malley believes that in order for a sustainable peace to be agreed upon, it will have to reflect the authentic feelings on both sides. It must reflect the acknowledged wrongs and transgressions on both sides. The most important point, at the moment, is that the scope of the peace process must be broadened. Other Arab states must be brought to the negotiating table because, ultimately, Israel wants peace and recognition from all of its neighbors.

I don’t think there is a better expert on this topic than Malley, but I am skeptical about his last point. Is it really reasonable to believe that all Arab states would help broker a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, when, only recently, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel will soon be “erased from the geographical scene”? I still doubt that there is any short-term possibility of creating genuine harmony between Israel and its surrounding Arab neighbors.