One of the more important lessons of what has come to be known as the ?transatlantic rift? is that designing political communication for domestic consumption has become much more difficult and is certainly more likely to have undesirable unintended consequences in an increasingly interconnected world.
Zionist heritage in Cologne.A recent example of these difficulties is US President Bush?s letter of support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon?s plan to relocate Jewish settlers from Gaza in return for an explicit American recognition of Israel?s right to keep some settlements in the West Bank and a ?realistic? scenario for the ?right to return? of Palestinian refugees. What seems like an inevitable move for both politicians ? giving the Prime Minister, weakened by continuous allegations of corruption, the political clout to propose his plan in an increasingly difficult parliamentary environment – is equally inevitably causing resentment ? as much as opportunities for posturing – among the Palestinians and the other negotiating parties, even if less for the substance than for the ?unilateral? style. But the letter is hardly a new ?Balfour Declaration?, as some commentators rather naively stipulated.
I doubt any serious politician eve r believed in an agreement based on more than the idea (?land for peace?) of the UNSC resolutions 242 and 338. In fact, even the famously balanced and incredibly unofficial ?Geneva Accord?grants Israel the right to keep several settlements (or 2,5%) of the territory occupied in 1967. But last week?s letter (and even more so the press conference) was about politics, not facts.