Yossi Sarid Diagnoses the real Cause of the Conflict

Submitted by Edip Yuksel (United States), Jul 19, 2006 at 11:49

Though I am neither a Jew nor Arab, as a Kurd I can relate to the emotions felt both by Daniel Pipes and his enemies. But, I learned that my emotional responses were usually biased and thus distorted and exaggerated and were not conducive to solve the real problems. To the contrary, my raw emotional reactions were catalyst in making the problem worse.

... Yossi Sarid is looking at the conflict through the light of reason and facts. The following excerpts is the Editorial article published in July 18, 2006 issue of the Madison Capital Times (Wisconsin):

In the Israeli Knesset there is a good deal of opposition to the current strategy.

Writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, former Israeli Cabinet member Yossi Sarid argues that Israel and the U.S. need to recognize that they are going about things the wrong way. Instead of destroying the infrastructure of Lebanon and Palestine, Sarid wants to increase economic opportunities for those who now see violence as the only way to demand fairness.

"Iraq is destroyed, Afghanistan is destroyed, the Gaza Strip is destroyed and soon Beirut will be destroyed for the umpteenth time, and hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested solely in the vain war against the side that always loses and therefore has nothing more to lose. And hundreds of billions more go down the tubes of corruption," wrote Sarid.

"Maybe the time has come to put the pistol into safety mode for a moment, back into the holster, and at high noon declare a worldwide Marshall Plan, so that the eternal losers will finally have something to lose," Sarid adds. "Only then will it be possible to isolate the viruses of violence and terrorism, for which quiet is quagmire and which in our eyes are themselves quagmire. And once isolated, it will be possible to eradicate them one day."

My invitation to Daniel is this:

Please relax and think for a solution beyond using power and shedding blood as you express in your article with deceptive title "Israel's Unnecessary War." You may in the end survive after killing all your enemies, but when you look at the mirror you see your enemy there. Your children will distance themselves from you as the children of Nazis distanced themselves from their parents.

If Israel gives up from arrogance and delusion that with sheer power and the aid of Super Power can force millions of people to total surrender to its will, then she can find and offer solution for the problem. As an academician your job is not act as a cheerleader for more blood and wars, but to take the more difficult path of finding a rational solution to the problem. Sure, first you need to consider Palestinians as humans, at least for once.

Peace,

Edip Yuksel

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