Dean on Israel and Palestine

The events happening now make it as good a time as any to assess Dean's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think what concerns some Dean supporters is not so much the nuances of his position but rather the perception that he has aligned himself with AIPAC. Here are reading materials for that discussion:

1) The statement on the official site. Excerpt:

... the Palestinian Authority will have to fight terrorism and violence on a consistent basis to create the conditions necessary for a viable peace process. The Israeli government will work to improve the living conditions of the Palestinian people and will ultimately have to remove a number of existing settlements. These issues and others from the right of return to the status of Jerusalem will all be elements of a final agreement negotiated by the parties.

2) An article in Forward Magazine. Excerpt:

Asked if his appearance at the [Americans for] Peace Now event should be read as a signal of his views on the Middle East, Dean said, "No, my view is closer to AIPAC's view."

3) A critical article from Common Dreams. Excerpt:

In November, Dean paid his first-ever visit to Israel on an excursion that was organized and paid for by AIPAC. He was apparently unperturbed at his sponsors’ close ties to a government that engages in a pattern of gross and systematic human rights violations and blatantly violates a series of UN Security Council resolutions and other international legal principles. During his visit, Dean did not meet with any Palestinian leaders or any Israeli moderates.

4) The Truthout interview. Excerpt:

Of all the Arab people, the Palestinians are most likely to be able to maintain a democratic state. Many Palestinians have lived in democratic states, including a million Israeli Arabs. Women among the Palestinians play a larger governmental role than any other Arab society.

But we've got to stop the terror. You can't get the Israelis out of the West Bank if, all of a sudden, a bomb goes off and kills 26 kids at a bar mitzvah. Of course they're going to go back. You stop the terror by changing our oil policy and confronting those who are funding the terror, and then you begin the process of moving out and ultimately dismantling the settlements, and setting up the states side by side. But the key is the terror, and the key to stopping the terror is America.