31. Pragmatism and Assumptions
Obama is proceeding from the assumption that with Israel and the Palestinians he is dealing with two reasonable entities. As a pragmatist, he believes that with good will, they will resolve their conflict.Israel maintains that the PLO is unreasonable in their demands. The Palestinians, on the other hand have always predicated their demands upon justice. The Partition of Palestine was unjust, the declaration of the Jewish state was unjust, the settling of Europeans in Arab lands was unjust, etc. It is this gap that Obama must bridge: before getting the two sides io again negotiate. An agreement to terminate a conflict must be judged primarily if it doable and if both sides can live with it. Let history decide if it is just.