Stardate 20020325.2010

(On Screen): You can prove anything with a poll. All you have to do is ask the question the right way. For instance:

Almost six in 10 Americans now think finding a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a "very important" foreign policy goal for the United States.

Hard to disagree with that. Peace is good. Peace is lovely. I'd like to see peace in the Middle East, myself.

But on what terms?

The problem isn't that we're not trying to find peace, but that the situation is intractable and the only way the US could impose peace would be to dictate terms to Israel which I think most Americans would find unacceptable. I seriously doubt that six out of ten Americans would answer "yes" to this question:

Do you think that the US should force Israel to accept millions of Palestinian refugees within its pre-1967 borders and give them full citizenship rights if that is the only way to get peace in the Middle East?

And yet that is one of the basic demands on the Palestinian side. It is the issue which caused the Palestinians to refuse the Barak proposal and begin the Intifada instead.

It's not as if the US hasn't been trying for a long time to arrange peace in that area. But good intentions notwithstanding, we're not omnipotent and the negotiating positions on the two sides appear to be too far apart for peace to happen. So as long as the US doesn't force Israel to accept the unacceptable, then US efforts will continue to be futile.