There is no clear end.

Submitted by Evan Liblit (United States), Dec 20, 2016 at 08:45

Very interesting and Daniel Pipes states his case very well as always. He does, however, avoid several points:

• His premise is based upon the fact that all out victory by Israel over the Palestinians would eventually lead to peace and would be beneficial to the Palestinians. What he does not acknowledge is the fact that the Palestinians are doing quite well as the vanquished and have made a rather good living at being losers. They are excessively subsidized financially by both middle eastern and western nations and have quite a bit to show for a nation that produces absolutely nothing. They are, essentially, a nation that is prospering under an international welfare program.

• They would lose their status as the aggrieved party if they ever made peace with Israel and, as such, would also lose all those wonderful perks that the rest of the world continues to shower on them.

• Pipes ignores the role of Israel's and Palestine's middle eastern neighbors who have used the Palestinians as a cause celebre which has been very successful at helping to control dissatisfaction within their own ranks. What would happen, for example, if Iran no longer had any reason to shout "Death to Israel" and their people took an introspective look at what is really holding Iran back from the greatness that was once Persia. Not to mention the Saudis and their Wahabbists. Israel's neighbors have a vested interest in keeping the Palestinians oppressed.

• Finally, although he touches on it briefly, Pipes downplays the role of Islam in the plight of the Palestinians. Their very raison d'etre, the Koran, calls for the elimination of Israel and death to Jews and it is Islam that is the unifying clarion by which Muslims are called and nothing will change that. Pipes ignores the fact that viewed by contemporary Muslims, things are getting very good. The West has capitulated and let millions of them into their bosoms where their virus can fester. Iran will join Pakistan in going nuclear. The Caliphate is slowly being re-established and America just saw eight years of a Shiite Muslim president.

What Pipes fails to admit is that there is no prosperous defeat for the Palestinians because there is no victory for Israel. With G-d's grace, maybe we can save some of them but with all of your surrounding bellicose neighbors unified under Islam toward your destruction, the sheer mass and inertia of 1.3 billion Muslims is, tragically, insurmountable and inevitable.

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