Ed, you are so right. But the fact of the matter is that no state has to 'like' any other state. They just have to butt out. Devorah
Devorah Kalekin-Fishman, Dr. Rer. Soc. Faculty of Education University of Haifa Haifa, Israel 31905 Tel.: +972-4-8249357 Fax: +972-4-8240911 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Additional phone: +972-4-8123605 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 10:29 PM Subject: Re: Eyes Wide Open > Yes indeed, who should Israel sit down with? I haven't been reading the > list too consistently lately, but I believe that someone suggested that > Israel is in the wrong place. But haven't the Jews always been in the wrong > place? It isn't too surprising that they must now feel much as they must > have felt in the Warsaw ghetto or in the many other ghettos that they were > forced to live in. > > What you have is an impossible situation. Israel is where it is; the Jews > are where they are. But that's an impossible place to be. Even if they > were very very nice to the Palestinians, even if they moved their > settlements off Palestinian lands, there is absolutely no guarantee that the > leaders of Islamic Jihad or Hamas would like them any better. Arafat might > like them better, but he no longer counts. Much as one wants to dislike > Sharon, one can only wonder if there is an alternative. > > Ed > > Ed Weick > 577 Melbourne Ave. > Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 > Canada > Phone (613) 728 4630 > Fax (613) 728 9382 > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 1:32 PM > Subject: RE: Eyes Wide Open > > > > And who will Israel sit down with? ??? > > > > Arafat > > Hamas > > Hezbollah > > Iran > > Syria > > Iraq > > Islamic Jihad > > etc.,etc.,etc. > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Karen Watters Cole [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Friday, September 27, 2002 1:22 PM > > To: Harry Pollard; devorah; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Cc: Keith Hudson; Brad McCormick, Ed.D.; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Cordell, > > Arthur: ECOM > > Subject: RE: Eyes Wide Open > > > > > > Harry wrote: > > > > Devorah (from Israel) and Karen, If either of you two ladies replaced > > Sharon, > > what would you do to stop the procession of the suicide bombers? There's > a > > simple one for you. > > > > Harry, is the assumption in your sentence that Sharon's deterrence is > > preventing suicide bombers? > > > > Off the top of my head, I'd say that Israel needs to do something dramatic > > and symbolic to prove that it is serious about stopping the violence and > > serious about making a future for itself that does not depend on bullets > and > > walls to survive. Deterrence alone cannot sustain Israel, and Bush needs > to > > learn that lesson quickly. Sometimes it takes something unexpected and > > risky to change a mindless cycle of destruction and self-destruction. > It's > > like being on drugs, you do things you'd never do sober. > > > > First, if I was a new Golda Meir, I would remove the fake settlements that > > have been established in construction trailers on cell phone line roads. > I > > read that they were going to do this but haven't seen that it happened. > > Anyone know? Devorah? Then I'd take a deep breath and close and > > consolidate established settlements that have been deliberately overbuilt > > into a few viable and defendable ones, as a compromise to the radicals in > > Israel who feel it is their moral right to steal land from others. > Promise > > that the gov't will participate in a long and tedious process of > determining > > the rightful property owners, instituting payouts for those who no longer > > want to live inside enemy territory. It should be cost-effective. > > > > At this point, I'd be threatened by mutiny at the Knesset and in need of > > more bodyguards. BUT ISRAEL MUST DECIDE TO RID ITSELF OF WHATEVER IS > > COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO ITS EXISTENCE, NOT JUST ENEMIES WITH BOMBS. IT MIGHT > > SURVIVE AS A MILITARY STATE, BUT IT CANNOT THRIVE. Israel has education, > > infrastructure and technology that its neighbors don't and these will be > the > > survival tools of the future, not their oil. I'd pursue more productive > > economic experiments, such as the ones funded by the businessman Stef W. > > with projects in Aqaba and the IMF zone, New Marshall plans, finding jobs > > for displaced settlers and displaced refugees. I'd publicize every jobs > > achievement I could and ask the UN and IMF for as much assistance as > > possible. Open the door to economic opportunity. PLANT A VISION but > also: > > > > 1. Establish borders that are defensible. Do not overreach. Greed is bad > > for survival. Remember Rome. > > > > 2. Declare a ceasefire and truce for 15 days and hunker down. Ask the > local > > media for cooperation in building a psychological timeout. > > > > 3. Announce plans for a summit in a neutral place in less than 1 week, so > > fast your opponents in the Knesset couldn't mobilize against you. Go with > > an open mind and listen. Give a small treasure, some very personal gift, > > like a chess game or jewelry you inherited, as a personal symbol of your > > commitment, to the person designated as your equal in negotiations. > > Something from a holy site? Find a small thing that can be agreed upon by > > both sides and do whatever it takes to accomplish it within 3 weeks. Like > > transfer the withheld payroll monies to a UN account if its being held in > > Israeli banks making money off the interest. Publicize the success of the > > summit and accomplishment of baby step #1. Especially on step #1, act > like > > a super salesman: Underpromise. Overdeliver. > > > > 4. Extend the ceasefire for 15 more days. Do not retaliate, but publicly > > reserve the right to do so if the goodwill established by your gesture and > > hard work are not valued with an end to the suicide bombers. > > > > 5. Identify baby step #2: Hold out a carrot, like resumption of jobs > within > > Israel for those with work permits, if the 2nd ceasefire is not violated. > > > > 6. Shout down the radicals in the Knesset reminding them that an eye for > an > > eye has contributed to the slaughter of the survivors of Hitler's pogroms > > and gas chambers. > > > > 7. Promise to resign if the change does not yield peaceful results in 30 > > more days. State to both outsiders and insiders that the goal is mutual > > recognition of sustainable and separate states. Keep the ceasefire going. > > > > 8. Do not give the enemy reasons to say that you have backed down on your > > dramatic change of tactics. > > > > 9. Announce plans for a longer summit, at the end of the ceasefire, > stating > > the goal is to build a framework for more baby steps for both sides. Show > > up and have lots of experienced peace brokers on hand. > > > > 10. Prepare to be assassinated. > > > > Even if this playbook fails, there might be 60 days in which both sides > > could rest from the endless cycle of violence, grief, mourning, anger and > > fear. Maybe more people will imagine the possibilities and opportunities. > > Sleeping through the night might be a fresh way to start. BEGIN A PROCESS > > AGAIN SO THAT PROCESS BUILDERS HAVE A CHANCE, and war as an answer seems > > costly, wasteful and backwards. There is surely enough exhaustion and > > growing threat of economic collapse to give something like this a chance. > > > > Almost forgot: > > > > 11. Do not issue visas to American tourists for 6 months. Keep those > > fundamentalist Christians with their US flags out of the country. Israel > > will be in nation-state rehab and doesn't need to be tempted by people who > > want it to be a in constant state of drugged holy war to sustain their > > beliefs, people who are not willing to live there and pay the same price > as > > its citizens do. Send those yellow-bellied holy rollers home. Invite > them > > back when they can spend their money at your beach resorts and arts > > festivals. Better yet, build casinos and duty-free shopping malls to > become > > the Hong Kong of the ME. > > > > Seriously, any Israeli government that cannot honestly admit that it has a > > fundamentalist "Taliban" problem is no better than Saudi Arabia or the US, > > for that matter. Treat them like telemarketers - they're not welcome at > the > > dinner table. > > > > Israel should state that it will honor a legitimately and democratically > > elected Palestinian Authority, release all the withheld payroll funds and > > promise to work towards a future of shared distrust with strong borders as > > long as the suicide bombings end and the ceasefire is maintained. Then, > > let the natural markets of economics take hold. > > > > I do not believe that there will be any real progress in the I-P issue > > dividing the ME today unless jobs and productivity are addressed > seriously, > > not just as election issues. A dramatic and symbolic gesture is needed by > > the Israel government as well as by the Palestinians. It's a matter of > > survivability and that is supposed to be a hallmark of the Jews. ISRAEL > HAS > > PROVED THAT IT HAS MUSCLE, NOT JUST BRAINS, BUT NOW IT MUST PROVE IT HAS > > WISDOM. THE PEOPLE WHO ONCE UTTERED NEVER AGAIN MUST NOW SAY ENOUGH AND > > READJUST THIS TIME NOT 360 BUT 180 DEGREES. > > And if these things don't work, Israel should build a wall around the > > country, lock its borders, survive on its own for 20 years (like the > > Japanese hiding out for 200) and see if still likes itself then. > > > > I guess I'd like to know who are doing all the jobs that the Palestinians > > were doing before the Intifada? Have they been taken by unemployed > Israelis > > or are they unfilled and contributing to lack of productivity in the > Israeli > > economy? Do the Israelis really want those workers back? > > > > I realize that I'm going to be inundated with posts pointing out that I'm > > not Dennis Ross, George Mitchell, Kofi Annan, Rabin or Peres, Mother > > Theresa, the latest celebrity chef or the Prince of Peace and these > > suggestions are just not going to work. I yield to the more expert among > > you. But it seems from an analytical woman's point of view that something > > dramatic from the targeted puts the assaulters off balance and opens the > way > > for a change in direction. Take the rhetorical ammunition away from Hamas > > and Fatah. Maybe then they will be seen for the radicals that they are, > > extremists not interested in governance, just violence. If people are > > backed into a corner, they usually come out swinging their fists. Here is > > where a little ancient Chinese military and philosophy may be in order. > > > > Both of these peoples are targets, both of them victims. Which one is big > > enough to take the first step to a bomb-free sanity? That would be > heroic. > > Retaliation and deterrence may be one answer, but they are not > sustainable. > > Harry, I've spent too long having fun with your challenge, but the elves > did > > not finish my To Do List for me. Next time, don't add "there's a simple > one > > for you" and maybe I won't reply at such great length. Please don't ask > me > > what the Palestinians should do. Your obedient student, Karen > > > > >
