Abbas' Strategy

Submitted by Robert Snider (United States), Jan 11, 2005 at 17:25

One must look at different states, whether they be Israel, the PLO or China as being in a contant state of becoming weaker or stronger at all times in relation to the other states in the world.

A multitude of factors affect each state; some making it stronger ( e.g., such a a new alliance) or weaker ( e.g. the economy tanks or its enemy gets a new ally).

The relative strength between Israel and the rump kleptocracy of the Palestinians is fairly great in favor of Israel now so it may make sense to strike now even at the risk of regional war.

However, the Bush view of the equation is that once a state becomes democratic and there are real voters, real voters vote their family's welfare along the lines of "it's the economy stupid!"

So, as time works through the democratic process the Palestinians will change and they will have lives that they value and will abandone their homicidal view of Israel. That's the idea, but I do not believe that it takes into consideration the Palestinian/Islamic hatred that causes them to propagandize their children into institutional hatred.

We should listen to what Abbas says and state clearly to the world that he is as "moderate" as Arafat; just more patient.

Robert Snider

---

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".