JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

11/16/09 02:59 PM

Cohen should have addressed what the Palestinians should do as well. I agree up to that point.

However, the larger onus is on Israel by virtue of the fact that she is the controlling or occupying power over all Palestianian lands. Thus the Palestinians could do all sorts of changing and it would be for naught - within the context of permanently resolving the conflict - unless Israel changes, because the Palestinians don’t control their own terroritory and will never be in a position to militarily dislodge Israeli control without explicit Israeli acquiescence.

That doesn’t excuse the Palestians or give them license to never change. It simply aknowledges objective reality for what it is.

11/16/09 05:52 PM

No, Kevin, Israel had given about 93% of the West Bank completely over to Palistinian control under Oslo. No internal checkpoints. Freedom of movement and with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians working in Israel.

Arafat’s response? Bus bombs and drive-by shootings with automatic weapons while “negotiating” peace with Rabin. Rabin very wrongly saw the terrorism as a natural backlash from the violent left to sabotage peace making, rather than as Arafat’s standard modus operandi. Rabin pushed forward, Israeli and Palestinian security forces joined together in what showed to be unusually harmonious and friendly joint patrols - and Arafat sent bus bombers.

Israel has made peace with Egypt and has gotten absolutely nothing in return. Egyptian official press vilifies Israel and, yes, Jews on a daily basis. Television programs are put on disgracing Jews - including a 40-part series on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Economic movement is from Israel to Egypt with none going the other way.

Jordan? Yes, there is some two-way economic progress, but King Abdullah and his minions still cannot get enough of blaming Israel for all the ills in the area.

Add in the rabid Israel and Jew hatred spread by Saudi Arabia as it claims to want peace, and the wild idiocy of Iran as it arms Hezbollah and Hamas and even Syria, likely Israel’s most long-lived enemy, starting in Biblical times.

Regardless of the disputes pro and con about what Ehud Barak offered Arafat at Camp David and then at Sharm El Sheik, an offer of unprecended proportions was made, including east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. Instead of negotiating, Arafat launched the 2000 Intifada --- yes, Arafat launched it.

Sure Ariel Sharon walked on the Mount, but the Palestinians had large piles of rocks already in place and scores of ambulances lining side streets at the ready. In short, all the Palestinians wanted was war.

How is Israel expected to change when all it receives for the efforts are intifadas, cold peace, endless vilification of all Jews the world over. Every step of compliance brings a reaction of violence as the efforts are simply viewed as weakness born by the positive effect of terrorism.

For 16 years the Palestinians were under Arab control. Poverty, no education and suffering resulted. Then along came Israel. The economic plight of the Palestinians improved markedly, but the growing terrorism and violence from the territories pushed Israel into a no-compromise position.

All the UN did was attack Israel while saying absolutely nothing about the plane hijackings, indiscriminate murder of Israeli citizens - the worst was the murder of 22 children at Ma’alot in 1974!

When the Palestinians turn from using their ingenuity to kill Israelis and, instead, build schools, factories, homes, develop medicines and technology, they will find an Israel running to catch up. Until then, the citizenry of Israel will turn inwards and vote the right wing into power more and more.

11/16/09 11:36 PM

Grossman’s point about Israel having all that superior weaponry forgets that Israel is severely limited in how much it can use that weaponry.  Israel gets criticized more for inflicting civilian casualties during war than any nation on Earth ever has.  I challenge any reader to name any other country that has ever been scrutinized like that, ever.  Unfortunately, the more Israel gets bashed, the less incentive the Palestinians have to attain a normal (non-terrorist) society and government.  If the world (especially other Arabs and Muslims) stopped coddling the Palestinians, you’d see how fast we’d have a permanent peace.

11/17/09 10:00 AM

who is roger cohen?
israels problems are caused by israel refusing to transfer arabs out of the country..in this way not only does israel cause itself problems but it encourages anti semitism around the world and wastes countless man hours and billions of dollars by israels useful idiots defending israel with the intentional result of the zionists finishing hitlers dream of destroying world jewry

11/17/09 11:50 PM

Dear Kevin Kamberg,

What did you mean by “Palestinian lands”?  When did the West Bank become Palestinian land?  I assume you know that the area of the West Bank was included in the Balfour Declaration in 1919 for the Jewish state, and codified by the League of Nations in 1922; that mandate has never been legally abrogated.  The Arabs were offered that part of Israel in 1947 but rejected the offer.  So, I ask again, how and when did the West Bank become Palestinian?  If anything, this land is occupied BY the Palestinians, not the other way around.