The Somalia-like chaos and civil war that is now unfolding in Gaza as a result of this decades-old stalemate can be blamed partly on ill-conceived Israeli policies, and partly on an American administration that, for six long years, relegated the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace to the bottom of its agenda. But it is misleading to attribute the failure of the Palestinians to develop an orderly system of self-government only to the pernicious effects of Israeli occupation and American policies.
作为这已持续数十年的僵局的结果，正在加沙上演的索马里式的混乱和内战一方面可以归咎于制定不力的以色列政策，另一方面则是拜美国政府所赐。在长达六年的时间里，美国政府将以巴和平事业带到了谷底。但是如果将巴勒斯坦人在建立一套有序的自治体系方面的失败完全归咎于以色列占领和美国政策的恶性作用则有误导之嫌。