In a message dated 9/24/01 10:42:13 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< Note that Israel has always held that *they* had a right to have a country
of their own in the Middle East, and thought it wonderful that other
countries had to give up land for that, but also always denied that very
same right to the Palestinians. >>
That's one of the casualties of war. The Palestinians could have had a state
in 1947 if they'd accepted the partition plan. It's expecting a lot to think
the Israelis should deal kindly with people who have called for their
extermination from the very beginning; we wouldn't do it and neither would
you. If there were a group living next to the Netherlands who didn't just
want their own land but wanted yours as well and were blowing up restaurants
and buses and firing rockets into towns near the border, would the Dutch feel
kindly disposed to them?
A lot of Israelis are now coming to think the Palestinians should have a
state of their own. But, again, every Palestinian suicide bomber makes them
question this - which is indeed the very point of the suicide bombers - they
DON'T want a Palestinian state, they want to destroy Israel itself. Who is
going to govern this Palestinian state - people who will accept peace with
Israel, or people who see it as only the first step toward their ultimate
goal? It's easy for people who don't live in Israel to give advice - we won't
suffer the consequences if we're wrong.
Tom Beck.
