{"id":6480,"date":"2011-05-01T17:48:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T13:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=6480"},"modified":"2011-05-02T08:44:14","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T04:44:14","slug":"concession-intransigence-and-precondition-the-sacred-words-of-israeli-negotiators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-politics-analysis\/concession-intransigence-and-precondition-the-sacred-words-of-israeli-negotiators\/","title":{"rendered":"Deciphering Israel’s Political Double Speak"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nI have a confession. I love the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website<\/a>. I can, and often do, read it for hours. It is a treasure trove, home to some of the best propaganda on the planet.<\/p>\n

The MFA website is also home to the three sacred words. Words, which when uttered correctly, underpin decades of US-Israeli rejection of a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. With reverence and hushed tone, I will now utter them:<\/p>\n

Concession. Intransigence. Precondition.<\/p>\n

The first two are usually used together with the correct qualifiers, and become “Israeli concessions” and “Palestinian intransigence”. This is the discursive framework we use to characterise the history of “negotiations” in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel will bend over backwards to try to find a solution but the stubborn Palestinians stick to their guns.<\/p>\n

“Preconditions” are what the Palestinians use to avoid negotiations. Preconditions like insisting Israel gives up its right to settle in Judea and Samaria. Preconditions like insisting that negotiations be based upon international law.<\/p>\n

These words are important, as they represent textbook truth inversions<\/em>; reality turned on its head, or what Orwell would have termed doublespeak<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When asked, Israel’s supporters are hard pressed to name an actual Israeli concession since 1948. I often get two examples thrown at me:<\/p>\n