Vicious Circle Read Free Page A

ceremony. Manny was generous enough to
     say that he didn't know how I'd convinced the Israelis and Palestinians to sit down around the same table, much less sign
     a treaty of peace
.
    I told Manny what I usually tell people who ask me how I did it. It was a matter of timing. I came on the scene long enough
     after 11 September for the world to become weary of Bush’s endless war on terror and the so-called clash of civilizations—the
     materialistic and secular West crusading against a spiritual and fundamentalist Islam—that was alienating Muslims around the
     globe. I came on the scene when Wahabi fundamentalists posed a credible threat to the Saudi monarchy and the price of oil
     out of Arabia hit one hundred dollars a barrel, driving up inflation and driving down economic growth in every industrialized
     country. I came on the scene when European leaders—as his Excellency, the British Prime Minister, bluntly told Bush’s successor
     in my presence—were ready to reassess their historic ties to America if Washington didn’t rein in the Israelis and get them
     to agree to the existence of a viable Palestinian state, which, in the British view, would pull the rug out from under the
     Wahabis and stabilize Saudi Arabia and bring down the price of oil
.
    No, that part of the meeting didn’t make it onto the pages of the
New York Times
or the
Washington Post
, and for good reason—it would
have scared the bejesus out of voters across Europe. The British PM, the German Chancellor, the French President, all over
     here for that U.N. summit, sounded like Delphic oracles who had coordinated their message, which essentially was that, unlike
     the U.S.A., their countries had enormous Muslim populations that might erupt like Mount Vesuvius if the Palestinians didn’t
     get their homeland, and soon
.
    Good question. Were they exaggerating? You know, even exaggerated perceptions have a way of shaping reality, which was the
     case here. In essence the European leaders had swallowed the jihadist’s bait; without admitting it in so many words, they
     were blaming Israel for the existence of Islamic fundamentalism in the world. The fact of the matter is that the Islamic fundamentalists
     were around before the sovereign state of Israel was created in 1948 and they’ll be around after the sovereign state of Palestine
     comes into existence. The fact of the matter is that the impoverishment of the Arab masses and their lack of hope that things
     will get better before they get worse—which is the stuff off of which Islamic fundamentalism feeds—will still be around when
     the struggle over this sliver of Holy Land winds down
.
    Yes, yes, I have to agree: they will certainly come up with another festering issue to rally their troops if we manage to
     solve the hundred-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But here’s the beauty of it all—here’s what I convinced the President
     of: Just because the European analysis was driven by an imperfect grasp of Islam and the historical forces at work in the
     world doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take them at their word, or look as if we are. In pressuring the Israelis, Washington would
     be seen to be responding to Europe’s legitimate concerns. And solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—even if it’s not the
     antidote to Islamic fundamentalism’s drive to restore the seventh century caliphate and what the Koran calls Hakimiyyat Allah
     or God’s rule—could only serve America’s long-term interests in the sense that it will become more difficult, if not impossible,
     to blame us for Palestinian tribulations
.
    I’m laughing because you’re right. As the President was kind enough to point out at her most recent press conference, a good
     deal more than luck was involved in getting the two sides to the negotiating table. Let’s start at the start. It's no state
     secret that I was summoned to Washington by a President who'd been intrigued by my book
Breaking ViciousCircles
.