<< But how, Tom? From where I'm looking, they've done just about all they can reasonably do to make peace and have been rebuffed. How do you make peace with an enemy that will accept no peace that does not include your own destruction? How do you make peace with people that teach their children from the day they are born to hate you? How do you make peace with people that would sooner blow themselves to kingdom come rather than concede that you have a right to exist?
The only path to peace that I can envision at this point is one that guarantees that the tactics of terror will not succeed. >> See, there is no such thing. And I know it will be extremely difficult. Neither side seems willing to recognize the humanity and basic rights of the other. But this stalemate is far too dangerous and deadly to go on, even if it were possible for either side to sustain it without beginning to suffer severe consequences (economic collapse, post-traumatic stress on a monumental scale, etc.) If this continues, Israel can expect to start seeing things like emigration, money flowing outward, etc. Life for the Palestinians will become intolerable and you'll start seeing increased crime, increased domestic violence, increased suicide (and not just by bombers), etc. As the party with the established, democratic government and functioning economy, I think Israel has the responsibility to take the lead, no matter how painful it may be, no matter how unbearable it may be to seem to give Hamas, etc., a victory. But I think Israel's survival as a state, not to mention its duty as a Jewish entity, demands that Israel take certain steps, including unilateral withdrawal of its troops back to the Israeli border, and dismantling of as many settlements as it can. Then, just tell the Palestinians that they can have their state, build a huge fence to separate the two, and let the Palestinians screw things up on their own, unable to blame the Israelis for all their problems (which they will continue to do anyway). I know it can't be that easy, but they have to start doing something. It is horrible for me to watch Jews do these awful things to anyone else, regardless of the provocation or the fact that everyone else does things that are much much worse and the world doesn't give a shit. I can't worry about the rest of the world; as a Jew, all I can do is show the rest of you what you should be doing. That's my job as a Jew, and the Israelis need to summon the moral courage and physical courage to do the right thing. Call the Arabs' bluff, as it were, and the world's. What would Jeroen do if the Israelis pulled back? He'd be furious, probably, as he'd have to find a whole new reason to hate Jews. Tom Beck "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
