Re: Eyes Wide Open (was Failing to make distinctions)

[William B Ward]

First of all, a lot of the first Palestinians to fight against Israel were Christians. Alex Odeh [from Jifna  www.visit-palestine.com/ramallah/places/jifna.htm ] who was killed in Los Angeles by the JDL was Christian. Edward Said is Christian. Thus, this is not strictly a Muslim-Jewish fight. In fact, the Druze, who are an offshoot of Islam, now fight in the IDF against Palestinians. Arguing that Jordan should absorb the rest of the population of Palestine is like asking Canada to take as refugees the entire northern tier of US states.  Statements such as this do not move the area closer to a solution since they are not viable.   I can see why people have intense feelings on this issue. The fact that I spent five years of my life in the area does not obviate the fact that I could climb on an airplane any time I wanted and bring my family back to the US and put the Israel/Palestinian problem behind me.   There are some facts on the ground. Israel has one of the strongest armies in the world and Palestine has one of the world's fastest growing populations. Its population has a Diaspora which is well educated and unwilling to let the issue die just as do overseas supporters of Israel.   Jews have always been a people to fight ignorance and intolerance wherever they have found it. That is why Israel and its policies are such an anomaly. There is a growing swell of Jews in Israel and the US who are questioning what this constant onslaught is doing to the Jewish people. There are those who feel Israel is right at any cost. I honestly feel that there will be a rebellion among Jews of those who will say enough is enough and move to restore some sanity to the Israeli leadership. I honestly feel that this will happen, is happening, and probably is the only viable way to solve the problem in the long run.   Yours, Bill Ward   Mon, 30 Sep 2002 08:01:28 -0700 "Karen Watters Cole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > HP wrote asking BW: > Are you suggesting the suicide bombers are a war against Sharon? > These are people whose open intent is to sweep Israel into the sea. > People > to whom the Arabs have never given a homeland because Israel is > where they > will be when the Jews are all killed. > We are in error to personalize things. Sharon isn't the problem, no > matter > the convenience it provides newsmen and politicians to emphasize > individuals. > > Harry, I will not challenge your statement at length, that we are in > error > to personalize things, but it sounds very much like history being > understood > by science: here is a solid mass that will not budge and over here > is a > single entity that has no affect on it and cannot possibly make the > solid > mass move, dissolve or change in any way. > > This comes back to the old question of do men as individuals affect > history, > or is history such a solid mass that individuals are pulled along by > it but > never able to drive history a certain way? > > Of course, we all agree that individuals matter in their local, > regional and > now global histories.  Sharon is certainly part of the problem.  He > gives > the wall or solid mass of desperate Islamic hate a target on the > world event > stage, just as Arafat is a target for the global defenders of > Israel. > Identifying the I - P problem as an unmovable, impenetrable object > (open > intent to sweep Israel out to the sea) only contributes to the > problem, it > makes it seem impossible to change, just as Tom Walker wrote re: > Emery Roe's > Analytical Tip opinion that environmentalists and economists can > make doing > anything about global warming or global poverty seem too large a > problem to > deal with by individuals or individual states. > > When we condense historical events down to a formula to understand > it, we > often miss the mythos that is involved.  Your statement is practical, > using > logos, and reflects (what I think is) your intellectual > training/preference, > but both mythos and logos are involved in life and the unfolding > drama of > mankind. > > If the right CEO can make or break a corporation, if one professor > and not > another can attract more students to a department, if a single > talented > researcher can make the difference in a breakthrough in medical > science, if > one lawyer can make a jury see the evidence in a different way, then > why > should we not blame Sharon and Arafat for contributing to this > political > problem?  I see the I - P issue as a crumbling brick wall, not a > solid one, > and I am focused on the crack in my line of sight that I can do > something > about.  - Karen > > > >