The first sentence of Mark Landler’s piece in the New York Times today (7/21/11):
It is a truism of Middle East peacemaking that the United States is the pivotal player–the most credible broker between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
If by “truism” he means “something most people don’t believe to be true,” then this makes sense. If he means “truism” in the other, more conventional way, then it is difficult to understand the article in question–which is about Palestinian efforts to pursue alternatives to U.S.-backed negotiations.
