In a message dated 12/30/01 6:26:25 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << One of the things they want is a sovereign Palestinian state. Give it to them. If the Palestinians can live in something they can call their own country, they will no longer be living under Israeli oppression, which means they have no oppressor to fight anymore (unless of course Israel then promptly decides to invade Palestine). The Jews wanted a country for themselves and got it; why not extend the same courtesy to the Palestinians? They certainly have as much of a valid claim to the region as the Jews have. >>
Israel has offered it to them in 1999. In fact, after the last set of peace talks with Clinton, information appeared in the US press (I'm too lazy to find the URL, but will if you insist,) that the peace deal as offered by Barak was pretty much everything the Palestinians had asked for in previous talks. They didn't accept. Considering Arafat's track record, it now looks like he was merely going through the motions and was uninterested in peace. The Arab countries around Israel have a track record (not once, not twice, but THREE times) of attacking that country with a clearly stated intent: eradication. It's therefore completely reasonable to assume that: IF Arafat was offered all he had asked for in previous talks AND he turned it down THEN by doing so he was trying to manipulate political mood in the Arab nations into attacking Israel again. Jon
