I was one of the two who read it.
Cross-border terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians started in the early 1950s. That’s 70 years, not 15. Israelis have zero reason to believe that anything they do is going to stop the attacks, and your assertion without argument or evidence looks pretty implausible to me.
In fact, if Israel did all the things you say they should, it seems much more likely given Hamas’ publicly stated goals and ideology that they would see that as evidence that their methods work. And the best way to get more concessions from Israel is to fire more rockets.
Not that that’s a justification for much of what the current Israeli government is doing. But come on, if you’re going to take a strong stance, at least take it based on the facts on the ground not wishful thinking.
This implies that the strategy of trying to indiscriminately kill Israeli civilians is somehow new, the result of recent desperate circumstances. But it has been the strategy of every Palestinian resistance group going back to the fedayeen.
Menzo
4624
Not only that, but an Israeli Prime Minister who unilaterally did all of these things would be in big trouble at home. Lest we forget that Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli in 1995 for his support of the Oslo accords.
Suggesting that there’s an easy answer here ignores the long history of the region. No side wants peace right now.
ShivaX
4625
Hamas and the Israeli government both benefit from the current dynamics imo, and they’re both fine with it.
And in the meantime, a lot of people are caught in the crosshairs.
Menzo
4627
Yes, it’s terrible. Both Tom Clancy and Aaron Sorkin thought the solution was to put the American military in between the two sides to force peace.
But, where would you put that military? What rules would you play by?
Timex
4630
Having the Palestinians trying to kill American soldiers rather than Israeli soldiers doesn’t seem like much of an improvement.
Things are light years different now than they were in the 1950’s. Palestinians had much of the Middle East and Egypt backing their plight. What radical Palestinians thought they could accomplish back then is a far cry of what they could do now. The only real governmental support for the radicals now is Iran. You must also look at the land configuration.
This is why I firmly believe stopping encroachment, and full support of an independent Palestine, and cessation of blockades of all goods and services would now be seen as a win as opposed to Israel ceasing to exist which - would stop the terrorism.
Which Hamas public statement supports this point of view?
None. It’s just my theory. Kind of mirrors the trajectory of the IRA.
I thought Tom Clancy’s solution was to use the Swiss Guard. Which sounded way better.
Well, Clancy’s solution was based on the idea of the Palestianians finally wising up to Gandhi and doing a nonviolent protest. After a grieving Israeli officer guns a bunch of the nonviolent protesters down, Israel’s position becomes untenable.
Jerusalem gets turned into a neutral zone patrolled by the Swiss Guard.
The US stations an Armored Cavalry Regiment and F16 wing in Israel to guarantee Israel’s defense.
The Arab oil states fund rebuilding Palestine.
Yeah, it’s a pipe dream.
I also point out Israel gave back the Gaza Strip, uprooting all their settlements, and that’s where we are seeing the rocket attacks originate from. Not exactly a hopeful indication to Israeli citizens about the effectiveness of withdrawing from territory to stop violence.
There is a huge problem with these maps. Is it supposed to track Palestinian land ownership and where they reside or is it supposed to track Palestinian control? If it’s control, there should be no green spaces on the map until Israel gave the PA some control of the West Bank and then the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. If it’s landownership, why isn’t it tracking Palestinian ownership of land in Israel? Also, isn’t it a bit ironic that the partition plan highlighted in the 2nd map image was what Palestinians roundly rejected but is now being used to justify Palestinian ownership? The maps seem to be conflating two things to create a pretty deceptive image.
Timex
4637
I think that part of the problem, part of the problem that’s always been there, is that deals don’t get made and time marches on… and then folks act as though those deals did get made, and so those old borders matter.
The longer the Palestinians go without accepting a real deal, the worse the eventual deal is gonna be for them, if they ever get one at all.
Like the original borders when Israel was created? That shit ain’t happening. A bunch of wars and decades of time have passed since then. Every time a deal wasn’t taken, that was a mistake… and those mistakes are gonna have consequences, as painful as that may be. And that’s just the way it is.
Problem is that Israel has effectively unilaterally precluded a two-state solution, and a single state solution with features that amount to apartheid is unacceptable to the world community. The only fair option left is a single-state solution where Palestinians have all the rights of other citizens of Israel.
Menzo
4639
That doesn’t seem super fair to Palestinians, and they wouldn’t accept this “solution” anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.
Israel currently as an Arab Supreme Court justice, did South Africa under apartheid ever have a black judge? I’m not aware of any. Also, before the apartheid regime was overthrown was the ANC allowed to run in elections and seated in parliament the way Palestinian parties are allowed in Israel? This shouldn’t be construed as a defense of land seizures on the West Bank, it should be construed as a claim that you are butchering the meaning of Apartheid.
In a unitary state wouldn’t the real danger be that Jews wouldn’t have the same rights as Palestinians, as they currently don’t in Gaza, and not the other way around?
