Klein in the Clouds

Posted on October 15, 2009 In Blog

Time’s Joe Klein provided today a brief Middle East ‘how-to’ as a means for Obama to earn his recently awarded Nobel Peace Prize. Sounds like an ambitious plan, where does one start?

Klein turns to long-time Israel critic Zbigniew Brzezinski, where “Brzezinski cites four major components: a return to 1967 borders, with land swaps enabling Israel to keep many of its existing settlements; no right of return for Palestinians who left, or were forced off, their lands when Israel became a state; Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and Palestine; and an international peacekeeping force replacing the Israelis currently patrolling the Jordan River Valley. (A fifth point, often mentioned, would be international control of the religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem.)”

The Klein-Brzezinski analysis has no bearing on current events or reality. For that, we encourage you to read today’s Washington Post. As for the Klein recommendation? A plan that includes a divided Jerusalem, international peacekeeping force and international control of religious sites is better suited to win the President the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.