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And Yet, Somehow, The Logical Conclusion Still Doesn't Follow

Reader comment on item: The Palestinian Economy in Shambles

Submitted by Ron Thompson (United States), Dec 27, 2007 at 11:12

If one agrees with all this description and its perverse (but only to the naive) conclusion that Palestinian impoverishment is "a long-term positive development", then it should logically follow that the idea of a Palestinian State should be expressly dropped and publicly opposed. Anything short of such abandonment (which could take many forms, some more subtle than others) will, with a mirror image perversity, only lead to some form of "exhilaration" as described by Pipes.

We've seen this before. When Sharon made his bold move to leave Gaza, taking the settlers with him, I thought that he probably had in mind that when the Palestinians only renewed their violence (a highly foreseeable event), then such violence would be taken as final evidence that the idea of a Palestinian State was totally bankrupt. But, no, Gazan and Hamas violence was only blamed on Israel, and a supine and spineless acceptance of the idea of a Palestinina State continued unabated.

The same thing is going to happen again with the further descent of Gaza into impoverished violence and the continuing slide of the economic condition of West Bank Palestinians.

In order for the truth of the uselessness of Western Aid to lead to any sort of actual "peace process', the idea of a Palestinian State must be eroded and ultimately rejected. Then the Palestinians, in the West Bank and Gaza, or more likely, somewhere else, might begin to turn their attentions to mundane matters, and away from support for terrorism which ends up being most nihilistic to their own interests.

It has long been amazing to me that there seems to be no group anywhere, in Israel or the US or in Europe, who is actually and openly thinking about, What To Do About The Palestinians since the establishment of a small, peaceful state alongside Israel is not possible. Is no Israeli think tank pondering along these lines? No task force of the US National Security Council? No task force of any of dozens of think tanks in the US? None in Europe? Why isn't Daniel Pipes at least speculating along these lines?

It seems sadly safe to say that as long as no one is considering this obvious logical conclusion of unending Hamas violence and rejectionism, Palestinian "exhilaration" and bellicosity will continue for that reason alone.

Put another way, think of Sherlock Holmes' famous dog that didn't bark. The silent dog here is the refusal of the West to consider that there is no possibility of a peaceful Palestinian State. That dog that won't bark is itself a cause of Palestinian, and Arab, exhilaration." For surely. they have to be saying, "They'll never DARE to reject the idea of a Palestinian State, and as long as they lack the nerve to do that, we can always hope that sooner or later we will wear down the hated Jewish State. With their continued help in the form of this pusillanimous refusal to reject our demand for a dagger state alongside the heart of Israel, we will eventually win."

Submitting....

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Reader comments (34) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
No creative ideas in islam [120 words]Phil GreendApr 3, 2008 18:18124564
a rat hole [117 words]jennifer solisJan 17, 2008 23:47118432
Why should they... [56 words]joe roseJan 7, 2008 12:37117657
Israel is among the MOST legal country in the world [236 words]Jake L.Jan 7, 2008 20:27117657
A "Palestinian Economy" may be an "oxymoron" [396 words]A BisselJan 3, 2008 21:22117481
Build a house [100 words]PDMDec 31, 2007 22:06117251
What is the purpose of the donations [297 words]yuval Brandstetter MDDec 31, 2007 01:59117191
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY CAN BE ACHIEVED ON CONDITION OF PERMANENT PEACE AND STATEHOOD. [121 words]TTSDec 31, 2007 01:47117190
wrong on all counts [104 words]yuval Brandstetter MDJan 1, 2008 01:16117190
What to Do? [42 words]BlackspeareDec 30, 2007 14:02117134
The Fact Of The Matter [90 words]JayDec 30, 2007 10:31117114
poor palestinans and idiot muslims of arabia [61 words]syed mohammad aliDec 29, 2007 03:15117072
Pipes`s arguments ... [60 words]emanuelDec 28, 2007 05:43117034
Misunderstanding the Power of Money in the Middle East [450 words]M. ToveyDec 27, 2007 19:30117016
Exhilaration? [180 words]Gunther H. SchiffDec 27, 2007 17:25117009
The price of Aid. [58 words]Charles SmythDec 27, 2007 15:39117002
"Palestinian shamble" [68 words]steven LDec 27, 2007 14:26116991
How can the Palestinian economy and culture rise from its own ashes? [278 words]Charles W. DavisDec 27, 2007 14:14116990
Too many eggs in one basket [62 words]David W. LincolnDec 27, 2007 14:14116989
Palestinian poverty [154 words]Janusz KowalikDec 27, 2007 13:15116980
Palestinians are not that rational [147 words]Charles MartelDec 27, 2007 13:11116979
Helping Palestinians [47 words]Janusz KowalikDec 27, 2007 13:02116978
5 Days After Reward $7.4 Billion May "Go Up in Smoke." Condi and Blair "Shocked and Dismayed" by Close Associate "Suddenly" Turning Anti-American [371 words]Sofa SogoodDec 27, 2007 12:40116974
And Yet, Somehow, The Logical Conclusion Still Doesn't Follow [506 words]Ron ThompsonDec 27, 2007 11:12116969
I so hope you're right, but I don't think so [1324 words]Sofa SogoodDec 27, 2007 10:41116968
Response to your last sentence [267 words]Ron ThompsonDec 31, 2007 17:35116968
Does Tony Blair have the power to monitor the distribution of the current handouts? [23 words]J SheffDec 27, 2007 10:34116967
You're getting warmer, Dr. Pipes... [123 words]Raphael PintoDec 27, 2007 10:11116966
Almost [94 words]BlackspeareDec 30, 2007 22:21116966
I am confused: last week said "Fund the Palestinians--Bad Idea; now it's "a long-term positive development." [25 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Mark GoldDec 27, 2007 09:40116965
Let it continue in shambles [214 words]RickDec 27, 2007 09:32116964
The Palestinians are no different from the other Arabs [262 words]Ken BesigDec 27, 2007 05:01116961
Impressively accurate [278 words]Ron ThompsonDec 31, 2007 17:04116961
Wasn't that the point? [82 words]jennifer solisJan 18, 2008 00:20116961

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