9/11: The Day Palestine’s Statehood Died
In late August 2001 George W. Bush had actually planned to come out publicly in favor of a Palestinian state.
9/11: The Day Palestine’s Statehood Died
In late August 2001 George W. Bush had actually planned to come out publicly in favor of a Palestinian state.
Crazy to think about right? The same guy who went on be the Commander in Chief of the War on Terror was just days away from rolling out a big announcement that, no surprise, would have pissed off Israel.
How big was this shift going to be?
Prior to this planned shift Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah, was threatening to cut ties with Washington if U.S. policy didn’t finally start taking Palestinian sovereignty seriously.
That got Bush’s attention. He called a National Security Council meeting, weighed his options, and even sent a letter confirming his commitment to a Palestinian state to the Saudis. He was set to meet up with Yasser Arafat, then leader of Palestine, in New York within two weeks.
Bob Woodward (the WaPo guy who somehow always gets leaks) reported that Bush had agreed to the rollout.
The week of September 10th, 2001, the White House was supposed to publicly shift gears on the Middle East.
The first U.S. president to openly embrace a Palestinian state was about to stand at a podium and say it out loud.
Then, September 11th happened.
What incredible timing.
Palestine’s shot at recognition buried under the smoking rubble of the Twin Towers.
Sadly, by September 12th, no one was talking about Arafat, statehood, or Saudi ultimatums.
Instead, the U.S. had already shifted to wall to wall propaganda to manufacture consent: brown-skinned terrorists hate your freedom, Israel is your eternal ally, and anyone questioning this chosen script was practically aiding al-Qaeda.
Right before all this, Condoleezza Rice was demanding an FBI leak investigation into Israeli spying. Sensitive deliberations about Bush’s Palestinian plan had somehow made their way to the wrong ears.
That probe eventually led to a federal grand jury indictment, conveniently intersecting with another investigation into Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin for handing off classified documents to AIPAC bigwigs Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman.
Rosen and Weissman were “fired,” but not before the damage was done. Imagine that, the Israel lobby knee-deep in spying and sabotage just as Bush was prepping a recognition of Palestine.
These of course are totally unrelated events, I’m sure. I just find them both interesting.
So, history turned. The Palestinian state Bush was about to acknowledge vanished overnight. Instead of recognition, Palestinians got tanks, walls, blockades, and a genocide decades in the making.
Instead of accountability for Israeli espionage, AIPAC grew even more powerful. And instead of asking who benefited most from the timing of 9/11, Americans were told to wave flags, watch bombs fall on Afghanistan, and later Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Palestine, Jordan, Iran, Sudan, and never, ever, ever connect dots.
The one moment when U.S. policy might have pivoted ended in fire and dust.
But hey, at least we got endless wars, a surveillance state, and twenty years of “Support the Troops” bumper stickers.