It would be ironic if Israel's devastation of Gaza ended up triggering a real peace process that finally achieves the goal of a two-state solution but there is a real possibility that such a scenario could play itself out. With the Bush Administration out of the way, the spotlight is shining brighter on Israel's actions – from its illegal use of phosphorous to its patented use of overkill and collective punishment that once again has shown a blatant disregard for innocent life. The illumination of Israel's total destruction of a UN storage facility in the midst of a humanitarian crisis has left much of the world disgusted. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and former ambassador to the UK, Ireland and the US, published an editorial in The Financial Times saying that Israel's invasion of Gaza has come close to completely destroying the peace process, putting the US-Saudi relationship at risk and threatening the stability of the entire region. With the exception of Iran, regional capitals have called for restraint in the face of the Israeli abomination, but Prince Turki maintains that unless drastic measures are taken, it will become harder and harder to insist on such restraint. It is clear that Arab countries have no intention of remaining idle in the aftermath of the Gaza invasion, especially now that Israeli barbarism is clearly exposed and globally despised. Prince Turki called on President Obama to embrace the Arab peace initiative, which essentially presents a two-state solution based on the legally recognized 1967 borders of Israel and Palestine. It is not only the only rational peace plan on the table, it is the only one that is based on fairness and legal principles. The reality is that Israel, in purporting to solve a problem with Hamas, has upped the stakes exponentially. A truly united front of Arab countries could cause serious problems for the US and Israel. The more truth the American people learn about Israel and its bellicosity, the more they will urge their leaders to take an objective approach, rejecting the influence of the Israeli lobby in Washington. The result will inevitably be pressure to dismantle illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land and the foundation of two separates states: Israel and Palestine. Finally, this may be in the interests of the US. __
