a question about Oslo

Submitted by Susan Krieger (United States), Feb 2, 2003 at 22:18

Everything you say in this paper -- as usual -- makes absolute good sense to me. I often try to argue -- less articulately and with much less information! -- a similar point of view with my generally liberal and -- to my shock -- anti-Zionist friends and associates. One issue, though, that keeps coming back to me, and which I don't know how to answer, is the accusation that Israel, too (or only), is responsible for the failure of Oslo, since it continued the building of settlements in violation of the Accord. My only response is that Palestinian terrorism, occurring soon after the signing at Oslo, and preceding the building of any additional settlements, made the Accord "null and void" by violating one side of the contract. That doesn't feel like an adequate response to me, and my "opponents" in discussion are unimpressed with this logic. You and every other "right minded" writer I read seem to blame the failure of Oslo on the Palestinians. Am I right about this, and, if so, how do you explain this opinion?

In advance, I thank you for any help you can give me in clarifying this question. I thank you, too, for the great work you do. We have a son preparing to start college in the fall, and as Jews and ardent pro-Israelis, we are very concerned about the campus climate you describe. We try to stay posted and keep our eyes and ears open. Once he finds out where he's been accepted, and before making his final decision about which school to attend, we expect to take your advice and speak to the relevant college admininistrators about these issues, both to inform ourselves and help make a better choice, and to communicate to them our concerns about the kinds of campus events you talk about.

Thank you, Susan Krieger

---

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".