Hopes for Peace Renewed!
King Abdullah II, that good man, is attempting to prove he hasn't fallen far from the family tree, emulating his fine father. Who really did try to make an effort to promote peace within the region. As one of the first Arab leaders to hold secret talks with Israel and to feel his way cautiously toward an accord, he set the stage his son is now fitting himself into. What a simple formula; accept peace with the Palestinians.
Sounds good. Most particularly since it is in Israel's best interests to do so, to move forward from a state of perpetual war-readiness toward one of unstinting prosperity, where the fortunes of the country can be the first priority, sans constant war-girding. And with Israel's prosperity comes the assured potential for Palestinians, within a sovereign state of their own, to prosper alongside their neighbour. Undoubtedly, with goodwill and help from that same neighbour.
Once the Kassams stop. Once the education system shifts slightly to eliminate the vilification and slander fed to trusting children who then learn it becomes their duty to 'resist the occupier' by any and all means. Means which include indoctrination into a tribal cult of blame and revenge. And for the more enterprising among the hate-calcified teachers of the young and impressionable, encouragement of future suicide-bombers.
Yes, King Abdullah is perfectly correct: Israel can not and would not wish to live forever as an armed fortress among enemy states. But even he must realize that one partner alone cannot unilaterally make decisions which will in essence affect three partners in this enterprise of a settlement for peace. How will Hamas be encouraged to deal in good faith, to finally agree to accept the fact that Israel exists, should exist and will continue to exist?
Will the good king make the effort in that direction?
The Arab League too, is weary of the constant, unabated struggles that keep the Middle East in tinder-box mode. Since they invariably trace all restive situations among Arab (and non-Arab) neighbours back to the unsettled fact of land disputations between Israel and the Palestinians. Their offer of land for peace which in 2002 offered the hope of a moderated peace settlement in exchange for Israel returning to its 1967 borders seems like a workable solution.
Why then did they amend the list to include a return of Palestinians inside the borders of the Israeli State? In the spirit of if you can't beat them, join them, a returned Palestinian population now numbering tenfold and more their original size would have the effect of completely overwhelming the Jewish state, undermining its purpose and placing the demographics in a delicate balance of state-collapse.
Is this the solution that Arab states believe will solve the problem of Israel's existence once and for all?
Sounds good. Most particularly since it is in Israel's best interests to do so, to move forward from a state of perpetual war-readiness toward one of unstinting prosperity, where the fortunes of the country can be the first priority, sans constant war-girding. And with Israel's prosperity comes the assured potential for Palestinians, within a sovereign state of their own, to prosper alongside their neighbour. Undoubtedly, with goodwill and help from that same neighbour.
Once the Kassams stop. Once the education system shifts slightly to eliminate the vilification and slander fed to trusting children who then learn it becomes their duty to 'resist the occupier' by any and all means. Means which include indoctrination into a tribal cult of blame and revenge. And for the more enterprising among the hate-calcified teachers of the young and impressionable, encouragement of future suicide-bombers.
Yes, King Abdullah is perfectly correct: Israel can not and would not wish to live forever as an armed fortress among enemy states. But even he must realize that one partner alone cannot unilaterally make decisions which will in essence affect three partners in this enterprise of a settlement for peace. How will Hamas be encouraged to deal in good faith, to finally agree to accept the fact that Israel exists, should exist and will continue to exist?
Will the good king make the effort in that direction?
The Arab League too, is weary of the constant, unabated struggles that keep the Middle East in tinder-box mode. Since they invariably trace all restive situations among Arab (and non-Arab) neighbours back to the unsettled fact of land disputations between Israel and the Palestinians. Their offer of land for peace which in 2002 offered the hope of a moderated peace settlement in exchange for Israel returning to its 1967 borders seems like a workable solution.
Why then did they amend the list to include a return of Palestinians inside the borders of the Israeli State? In the spirit of if you can't beat them, join them, a returned Palestinian population now numbering tenfold and more their original size would have the effect of completely overwhelming the Jewish state, undermining its purpose and placing the demographics in a delicate balance of state-collapse.
Is this the solution that Arab states believe will solve the problem of Israel's existence once and for all?
Labels: Middle East
posted by Pieface | 5:15 PM
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