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The never-ending Palestinian-Israel conflict - and what you are, and are not, told about it

Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where he served as academic dean from 2002-2006. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where he served as master of the social science collegiate division and deputy dean of social sciences.

Writing in "Starting the new year off wrong" on his blog on FP, Walt writes:

"Meanwhile, back in America, a number of prominent commentators are beginning to figure out that the Zionist dream is becoming a nightmare. First came Peter Beinart's important piece in the New York Review of Books a few months ago. Then, in the past couple of weeks, New Yorker editor David Remnick has given several interviews condemning the occupation in unusually blunt terms. Even die-hard defenders like Marty Peretz and Jeffrey Goldberg have expressed concerns about Israel's trajectory, wondering if it will remain a democracy.

These are hopeful signs because progress is only possible if we take an unsentimental look at the situation there. And the central point is that Israel's problems are not due to a handful of extremist rabbis, authoritarian tendencies among the recent Russian immigrants, or even the growing percentage of haredim. The core problem remains the occupation itself, which is a project that every Israeli government since 1967 has endorsed and supported. It is by now deeply embedded in the Israeli political establishment, which is why it will be so hard -- and maybe impossible -- to end."

Part of the problem in seeking a resolution to the conflict is America's total one-eyed commitment to Israel no matter what. It isn't, and cannot ever be seen as any sort of honest broker. And then there is the Israel Lobby - so powerful in shaping the reporting and narrative of what is happening in Israel and Palestine and the warring factions. Media Lens takes up the reporting of the conflict - and how it isn't, in a piece "Tilting Toward Israel" by veteran Middle East reporter Jonathan Cook. It's well worth while reading. No wonder there is so much ignorance about the conflict if those who control media outlets are so obviously cowed by the Israel Lobby and just "won't go there" in providing a balanced coverage of the situation.

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