A Different Drummer

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Egypt-Israel peace treaty. If you measure such an agreement by a resulting lack of conflict between the two countries, it was a pretty decent deal. Arming both to the teeth seems to have been a pretty good way to stop them ever considering war again. I think Camp David and the treaty are America's best contributions toward peace in the region.

Random thoughts:

- Anwar Sadat was one of a kind, and shame on the Arab / Islamist leaders who cheered his death and shunned his funeral. From his Nobel Prize acceptance speech:

"I am convinced that we owe it to this generation and the generations to come, not to leave a stone unturned in our pursuit of peace. The ideal is the greatest one in the history of man, and we have accepted the challenge to translate it from a cherished hope into a living reality, and to win through vision and imagination, the hearts and minds of our peoples and enable them to look beyond the unhappy past."

- Avantcaire has a great post on why they are a pro-Israel Arab, well worth a read:

"surveying the middle east in the mid to late 90s i was struck by the stark difference between israel and the rest of the middle east. a reasonably well functioning democracy with pockets of real innovation in industry and academia, a press that i trusted more than any in the region. i admired (and continue to admire) the young, small country’s achievements.

i also grew up with many palestinian friends. one of my earliest loves was palestinian. i sympathized with their sense of loss, insecurity and bitterness. but that sympathy rarely translated into support for their politics. the plo reeked of the corrupt incompetence that was familiar to me from my visits to egypt."

- It is a pity that the insane war in Gaza led to relations with Qatar being frozen. A new peace treaty, this time with an emerging Gulf state, would have been a good beginning for the next decade. The UAE, which was also fairly tolerant in a dont-ask-dont-tell sort of way toward Israeli visitors, is cooling on the whole idea.

- This article in Haaretz quotes the Egyptian foreign ministry as saying that no events will be held in Egypt to mark the anniversary. It also quotes an editorial in from Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper, a government mouthpiece:

"Cairo doesn't need to explain or justify itself," read the Al-Ahram editorial. "It is clear to anyone following the mood in Egypt or other Arab countries sees that they are calling for the burial of the peace process."

Yikes.