You are right but...

Submitted by Bernice Dubois (France), Aug 31, 2003 at 18:53

Your analysis is absolutely right, but the way must be found to truly convince other Western nations of this. It is useless to simply say "this is right; this is wrong". A large majority of countries are persuaded the opposite is true and that the Palestinian refugees are really in a category of their own. If things are to change, it will require diplomacy of a kind the American government seems not to want to bother with, even if it understood how essential it was, and I do not feel they do understand this. Countries cannot be brow-beaten; they must be persuaded and convinced. For decades now, huge amounts of money have been very intelligently spent on propaganda in the other direction. (Previously, of course, the whole of the Eastern block also worked to that end. This at least seems to have ended, but it is far from sufficient.)
Who can convince the U.S. government to learn diplomacy and who can teach it to them? Only then, do we have any chance of reversing national opinions, and eventually public opinion, on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. If we fail, the U.S. may stop funding UNRWA, but the European Union will take it up, and we will be back to square one.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".