Time is running out
I’ve visited the Middle East often – to most Arab countries, the Palestinian Territories and Israel.
I’ve always felt a deep sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians, as they pursue their tortured way through history. Each travels a historic path isolated from one another, except for a few contacts at the edges of their societies.
A Rabbi I know says that she longs for peace and weeps at the impossibility of ever achieving it. I have acquaintances in the Israeli peace movement, from all sectors of society and they’ve have become increasingly pessimistic.
I know some soldiers, who have refused to serve where Palestinians live; they believe that the “occupation” is wrong. They’ve done time in prison because of their stand and Zionist Israelis call them traitors, insisting that the occupation is necessary because of Palestinian terrorism. The soldiers say, well – if your country were occupied by someone’s army, you’d probably fight too.
I once believed in the so-called “two-state solution” – one for the Palestinians and one for the Israelis.
- But that would mean obedience to international law.
- It would mean changes that the Israeli government won’t make.
- It would mean dismantling the illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and
the West Bank – not an option; that would cause violence between the
Israeli settlers and the army.
The second option is the one-state solution. A country shared by both Palestinians and Israelis.
The problem with that is that it would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state; so that’s not on the table, even though such prominent Jews as Martin Buber advocated it more than 60 years ago and Avraham Burg is writing about it now.
Most Israelis say they would rather fight forever.
The third option – often discussed, is the transfer of all Palestinians to Jordan. That’s the position of Benjamin Netanyahu, now running for the Israeli presidency. He says that Jordan should be designated as the Palestinian Homeland. But the forced removal of all Palestinians from their remaining land would have repercussions of the most devastating kind.
I no longer believe in the 2-state solution.
The situation will become much worse before it gets better – if it ever does – unless Obama puts his foot down.
When I first went to the Middle East, there was no “jihad” – not much in the way of “Islamic extremism”, but there was terror – by Palestinian factions and by Israeli settlers; both extremist groups that claimed to be fighting for their “rights”.
It's all so different now…and it's the fault of both sides…but mainly, it's the fault of a negligent, careless, selfish and indifferent international community.
The conflict has become a “religious” war that has brought in Iran, the Lebanese Hezbollah, Jewish Settlers and others – including al Qaeda. This religious extremism on the part of some Muslims and some Jews has come about because the international community has failed to implement a just peace.
That failure has brought the world to a very dangerous place of never-ending conflict.
60 years ago Harry Truman said this:
It now seems that even the wisest of leaders cannot reverse the march of history. President-elect Obama has said he will support Israel’s present course, regardless of the consequences.
But Obama Ought To Remember This:
The Palestinian/Israel road is leading somewhere; it may be a place no one wants to see.
You write “it’s the fault of a negligent, careless, selfish and indifferent international community” but what, exactly, would you have the “international community” DO to make the situation better, or even to stop it getting worse??
Ah…good point Charles…I’m working on that now and I’ll have something by tomorrow morning.