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After Likud vote, lets take another look at it.

Reader comment on item: Arafat's Failure May Offer Seeds of Hope

Submitted by Jay Bea (United States), May 14, 2002 at 20:50

I have written regarding this column before, but now that Sharon's own party has recently given him a spanking --- much like Bush was given one by Congress over its vote to support Israel --- let us see if perhaps NOW there actually is a ray of hope in all of this.

Prevailing opinions are generally that this vote complicates attaining a peace settlement. That depends. It depends on whether or not both Bush and Sharon are willing not only to face reality, but to openly support "reality" to their bases.

A "Palestinian state" was a terrible idea from the beginning. The trouble was, once it was openly discussed as a potential "solution" to the problem, it was like a genie let out of a bottle. Israel's vote was the right message at the last minute. The "acceptance" of Israel has never been a reality in any meaningful sense, so inserting a one sided option began negotiations with the initial offer coming from the wrong side of this mess. "He who first mentions a figure loses" when it comes to "negotiations. NOW there is something to negotiate. You do not NEED to negotiate the existance of something described as "inevitable". No, it is not inevitable.

The vote by Likud also sends a clear message to the Arab world and the Palestinians that there is in fact a price to be paid for not negotiating in good faith; You can lose the deal. This was important because they certainly did not negotiate in good faith. When this unpleasent fact is finally fully accepted it may be realized that the only losers are the Arabs. Israel lost nothing with this because they never did have "good faith" from Arafat.

Finally, the "Palestinian problem" is really just a great game by the Arab world who's REAL interest was to stir up enough of a distraction to delay our dealing with Iraq. The sooner it is understood that Islamic nations can NEVER be trusted in negotiations with "infidels", the sooner the west will be on the road to acting on policy as oppossed to talking about it. Religion IS important and to ignore the kind of ethic a particular religion instills in it's adherents is critical to deciding whether you can make agreements with a particular people or not. The good Muslim is morally allowed and even encouraged to act in deciet when dealing with "Kafir" -you and I-. To even entertain the prospect of solving issues of policy through neotiations with such a people is the height of stupidity. Arafat's duplicity is entirely unremarkable when one understands the cultures of Islam, "moderate" though they may be claimed to be.

The ray of hope that is left is then this: That the Bush administration come to understand that in the middle east, only a superior position from the perspective of force AND a willingness to use it will result in order. Islam has a 1,400 year history of animosity to Jews and Israel is no more meaningful than a jealosy provoking thorn in the side of Islam. The sooner the inherintly anti-semetic nature of the Beast is understood, the sooner the beast can be contained. A complete 360 is needed to truly address the middle east and the sooner Colin Powell and the unrealistic republicans in the State Department can become realists, the sooner things can return to containment and controlability. "Peace" is too much to hope for.
Submitting....

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Reader comments (26) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
What is the world thinking????? [43 words]MassimoNov 14, 2005 14:0928366
To commenter Mirko Badul [49 words]LeslieDec 9, 2002 20:104500
Time will tell [43 words]A. NimmerSep 26, 2002 07:512654
After Likud vote, lets take another look at it. [571 words]Jay BeaMay 14, 2002 20:50361
The Shadow of the Palestinian National Charter [133 words]Eva GoldmanMay 9, 2002 18:09326
Time for Arafat to Go [39 words]Robert SpitalnickMay 9, 2002 16:44324
No reason to give Palestinians a state [105 words]Jay BeaMay 9, 2002 10:26317
Understand Arafat's Goal [18 words]Greg OfieshMay 9, 2002 00:07309
Compromising on Terror will bring annihilation of the West [157 words]R. CrockettMay 8, 2002 16:55307
The UN and Israel [60 words]William J. SturmMay 8, 2002 08:47305
Misunderstood Nature of Palestinian War [176 words]Donald VogelMay 8, 2002 01:06303
Credible Punditry, capitalist style [300 words]Barry GottesmanMay 7, 2002 13:28254
No Historical Reconcilliation Until Arafat is Out [465 words]Natalie HassmanMay 7, 2002 05:39244
Seeds of hope [19 words]Muhammad SiddiquiMay 7, 2002 03:11242
So what's the next move? [251 words]Sally VeeMay 7, 2002 02:30241
Relinquish the Right of Return [216 words]Ron FinkelMay 7, 2002 02:28240
Pertinent analysis, wishful conclusion [285 words]Victor TordjmanMay 7, 2002 01:27239
Action Pays Off! [236 words]William J. SturmMay 7, 2002 00:26238
The Peace Process Fantasy [154 words]Lawrence KammMay 6, 2002 20:35236
Liars Never Win! [588 words]Les LiebermanMay 6, 2002 20:20235
Counterproductive Arafat [53 words]Aram PaquinMay 6, 2002 17:55233
Seeds of hope? [457 words]Yehudit HirschMay 6, 2002 17:43232
Seeds of Hope Will Turn Out to be Pits [165 words]Steven HessMay 6, 2002 17:35231
Call it the 'Oslo War' [106 words]Elisa SilvermanMay 6, 2002 17:08230
Suicide bombings will lead to total defeat [126 words]Mirko BodulMay 6, 2002 16:56229
Americans & Brits aren't jailers any more [170 words]Don MintzMay 6, 2002 16:55228

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