According to Einstein’s observation, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In regard to Israel and the Palestinians, however, doing the same thing over and over is not insanity but rather a calculated act on the part of Israel designed to produce a predictable and long sought after result, namely to submerge the Palestinians in formaldehyde. Recall Dov Weisglass, former Ariel Sharon chief of staff and now “point man in the US,” declaring that “disengagement” from Gaza supplied “the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians,” as the Israelis have no intention of allowing a Palestinian state, let alone obeying international law and various United Nations resolutions calling for an end to the occupation of Palestinian land.

Note Bush’s call “for a Middle East peace conference bringing together Israel, the Palestinians and some Arab neighbors and led by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,” supposedly “to pave the way to a Palestinian state alongside Israel,” according to Reuters.

“Bush reaffirmed his vision of a Palestinian state at peace with Israel and said Palestinians faced a choice between the Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and the more moderate Abbas,” never mind the Palestinians elected Hamas to represent them. Of course, both Bush, or rather his neocons, and Israel under Olmert prefer the CIA-infested Fatah and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas. Naturally, the point here is to have yet another conference with a trusted toady micromanaged by the CIA and Shin Bet, the latter diligent at making sure any agreement between Israel and the Palestinians terminates predictably (see Shin Bet Vetoed Secret Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement), following yet another conference leading nowhere, or maybe to the same place Oslo led, i.e., to the theft of even more Palestinian land. Any new conference will, of course, produce likewise results.

It should be noted that Weisglass made his formaldehyde comment in the wake of the Herzliya Conference. Gabi Becker comments:

The Herzliya Conference, attended by the likes of the Occupation’s military generals, “Yesha” council representatives (West Bank and Gaza settlers), Knesset members, government officials, university professors, bank representatives (the list clearly overlapping), US think tanks, members of the US Jewish “community,” and this year’s special guest former US President Carter who stopped by on his way to “observe” the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, all take part in the Conference to make a toast to the past and future of Israeli expansionism. Herzl, the “Founding Father” of Zionism and author of The Jewish State, would be proud. The Herzliya Conference, taking place in Herzl’s namesake settlement of “Herzliya”—built on the destroyed Palestinian village of Abu Kishk—resonates similarities to the World Zionist Congresses, the first of which took place in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland and chaired by Herzl himself. But, unlike the Zionist Congresses that took place in Zionism’s homeland—Europe—this conference takes place after the Palestinian displacement, and this time the plan is not how to establish a Jewish State in Palestine, but how to bring about the final annihilation of Palestine (under the very cynical rhetoric of establishing a “state”).

As Becker notes, the template is Oslo and the outcome is to talk the talk but do little else, as Israel plans to eventually and completely dispossess what remains of the Palestinians, a long-term plan conceived well before the “establishment” of the Israeli state (a state “established” under British colonialism and signed off on by the United Nations at the expense of Arabs).

Meanwhile, focus around “negotiations,” “final status,” and “statehood” continue to be the mainstay of Occupation under Oslo. While terms remain the same, so does the colonial, expansionist reality on the ground. The various peace proposals that surface remain within this framework, as their distinctions are solely about shifting the borders in different areas and in percentage of lands that would be “security zones” and annexed, and not about the regime that is and will be established under the bantustan state. Olmert also stated that, “We firmly stand by the historic right of the people of Israel to the entire Land of Israel. Every hill in Samaria and every valley in Judea is part of our historic homeland. We do not forget this, not even for one moment…” another reminder that “final borders” themselves are but a means and will ultimately not be final, just as living in a ghetto is not living at all.

Olmert’s declaration, quite prosaic for Israelis, and those of us who have bothered to read the history of Zionism, stands now as it did then, or for that matter as it did when screamed from the rooftops by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, Chaim Weizmann, and indeed Theodor Herzl, the latter who may be considered old fashioned and quaint, as he advocated spiriting “the penniless population across the border” and “gentle” expropriation of the Palestinians (see Benny Morris, no slouch when it comes to making excuses for the less kinder and gentler form of ethnic cleansing currently in vogue; Righteous Victims, p. 21-22).

Meanwhile, as should be expected, in order to set the stage for new discussions the bankrupt Abbas arrived at Olmert’s office dressed like a welcome mat. “Olmert and Abbas met for two hours at Olmert’s Jerusalem residence. They discussed ‘how they can see arriving at a two-state solution’ to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Olmert’s spokeswoman Miri Eisin said, although sources in Olmert’s office said they did not discuss such divisive issues as the fate of Jerusalem, borders and Palestinian refugees…. ‘The Palestinians want to go a lot faster. The average Israeli would like to go a lot slower. We have to find something that is acceptable to both sides,’ Eisin said.”

In other words, the Israelis want yet another generation of Palestinians, and no doubt the one to follow, ad infinitum, to wait for a “solution” to the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Of course, there is but one solution.

Israel must abide by Security Council resolution 242. In fact, as criminally flawed as the so-called 1947 “the Partition Plan” is, it must be finally and fully implemented, as demonstrated by this map. As it now stands, keeping in mind Olmert’s declaration, the Palestinians are reduced to bantustans charmingly called “Arafat’s Islands,” now the CIA quisling Abbas’ islands (see this map).

Bush’s “bilateral discussions and negotiations” will lead to more thievery and genocide. Call it a holding pattern for brutality and eventual ethnic cleansing, at present incremental. As should be expected, when Hillary reigns supreme come November, 2008, the situation will remain the same, as the Democrats, creatures of AIPAC who stumble over each other in clownish effort to pledge American treasure and blood to the tiny outlaw state of Israel, are no different than Republicans and neocons. All that will be missing is that sickening neocon bravado stinking to high heaven, as the Democrats like to do their betrayal and sellout by cover of darkness.