Personal musings on Israel, Jewish matters, history and how they all affect each other
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The More Peace Negotiations, the More Palestinian Violence
Today was the worst day of rocket fire from Gaza since the aftermath of Israel's operation there last year. The BBC reports this under the following headline: Israel bombs tunnels as leaders talk peace. I spoof you not. Ah, and some of the shells shot by the Palestinians are phosphorous. As of this moment, the Twitter accounts of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are silent on the matter. The last time HRW tweeted about Israel/Palestine was on Sept. 8th, when they condemned the conviction of a Palestinian activist by an Israeli court; the last time they had anything to say about the Palestinians was to condemn the murder of four Israelis on Sept 2nd. As for Amnesty International: I followed them backwards until August 12th. No condemnation of anything Palestinian, not even the murder of four Israeli civilians.
The Huffington Post used the same headline as the BBC.
ReplyDeletehttp://hpmonitor.blogspot.com/2010/09/hp-on-israeli-jets.html
Well, yes this shouldn't be surprising. The extremists on both sides but especially, very much the Palestinian side will do anything they can to end the non-fighting negotiations and violence is their best weapon. Nor is it surprising that certain media outlets would not accurately report this. Israel should ignore both.
ReplyDeleteIt is still my opinion that it is in Israel's best interests to abandon the West Bank ASAP. IMO, the current situation is not sustainable for reasons I've previously stated. Yes, terrorist attacks will still continue once Israel leaves the WB and Palestine is independent. Yes, the anti-Zionists will still wage war against Israel. The difference will be that Israel will no longer be an occupying power. Eventually, most people would get tired of Palestinian antics and terrorism and the narrative will become pro-Israel again. The anti-Zionist intellectuals will only look foolish. It'll take a few or even several years but it will happen. Plus, other Arabs and Muslims are growing more tired of the Palestinians. This process will happen even faster with a free Palestine.
Hillary Clinton has admitted the status quo can last for 30 years.
ReplyDeleteThe Americans are actually delaying peace by forcing both sides into a process they don't want.
And Abu Bluff in particular is in no great hurry to strike a deal.
NormanF, do u have a source for Hillary's remark? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteLee
ReplyDeleteIMHO what you propose would undoubtedly make Jews outside Israel happy who are suffering from being everywhere and all the time confronted by people without manners about Israel's perceived by them "sins".
I conclude that that is happening from an odd remark here and there and I find it quite understandable that they want Israel blameless so the rude ones have no reason to be rude any longer.
BTW that is one field where Jews and Moslems seem to share the same plight.
If I were Jewish I#d ask anybody who'd go after me with the settlement demand I'd ask to bring a paper from a serious military strategist that says it would be reasonably safe and moderately sane to do what you suggest.
In short the blame is not on Israel, the blame is on the stupid ignorant ill-mannered raisers of impractical ideas by people who walk the clouds.
Maybe having WaPo's Miss Manners give a verdict on the subject might be a good idea.
Silke
Lee: the question is, what constitutes the "West Bank?"
ReplyDeleteDoes this include leaving Gilo, Ramot, Pisgav Ze'ev, etc.?
If so, where do you put those hundreds of thousands of Israelis? And what do you do with the towns themselves? Just hand them over to the Palestinians so they get everything for nothing?
And if Israel doesn't leave Gilo, Ramot, etc., the rest of the world can still call them an "occupying power."
What you're suggesting so flippantly is an absurd undertaking. Israel should not constantly be asked to saddle itself with internal refugees just because the Palestinians want a judenrein state.
Most Israelis are for leaving the West Bank as soon as the line is agreed upon by both parties, with in mind the security interests of both the West Bank Palestinians and the Israelis.
ReplyDeleteNow Lee, what is there that you do not agree with?
"The difference will be that Israel will no longer be an occupying power."
ReplyDeleteNow when have I heard that before? That's exactly what was said about Gaza before the withdrawal. We withdrew "ASAP" yet we are still condemned for being an occupying power in Gaza.
And aren't you forgetting something, Lee? Like the old line that "the millions going to the settlers will go instead to the periphery"?
We're going to get damned whether we do or we don't. Might as well take the time to do it right this time around.
Sylvia
ReplyDeletejust when I wanted to ask the "Gaza"-question you beat me to it.
but it isn't just Lee, Jeffrey Goldberg sings a similar tune. It is the settlers it is the settlers it is the settlers and because the situation is like it is every one of us has to do a lot of collecting info bites just to get a vague idea of what a savvy general would say. And with your kind of neighbours my trust is with the military strategists, everything else is gambling with lots of lives and livelihoods.
Silke
It doesn't matter how many times it is said, when confronted with plain logic and unquestionable facts note how these paragons of integrity dodge the issue.
ReplyDeleteAnother logical fallacy - or perhaps just deficient knowledge - is the claim by the same person somewhere on this board that ethnicity or religion are the bases for self-determination.
This when any Israeli ID card explicitely defines Jews as a "nation" not as a religion, not as a race, not as an ethnicity.
And what is a nation?
A nation is: a group of individuals who share a common history AND/OR a common future. This includes new converts and excludes former Jews or simply Jews that want to tie in their lot with another nation.
Common history. Not ethnicity, not race, not religion (even if you are a Pakistani the fact that they share a common recent history and a common future is a basis for their self-determination).