It’s been a while since my last post. This has been due to my being in Israel since March 28. And I still have a few days to go. But I finally do have a new piece up at Allvoices.com. You can read it by clicking here.
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I am not really sure what Mitchell is saying. He is speaking in parables. What exactly is his plan?? Does he support the patriotion of 5-million Arabs as Israeli citizens? Because that is what is being demanded by the Saudi Peace initiative. Short of that, this state of conflict is not likely to abate any time soon.
For the first and only time in the history of the world, refugees were given leave by the international community to pass their “refugee” status down through new generations. For the first and only time in the history of the world, the UNHCR has been politically blocked from re-settling these nationless people in normal quarters. While about 20-million Arabs were given citizenship in a variety of Euro nations, very few of them were Palestinian-Arabs.
Mitchell’s pep talk does little to address these crimes against the Palestinians (both Arabs and Hebrews).
Mr. Plitnick,
Having observed the Arab Israeli conflict for basically my entire life, the one observation I can note is the complete unwillingness of average Arabs, much less their leadership, to recognize any legitimacy at all in the claims made by Jews with respect to non-Muslim in Israel. Unless that cultural and religious rejection – and it is, as Benny Morris notes, a religious issue for the Arab side – is addressed, there cannot possibly be any peace. So, I do not see why you think it wise to be so tough with the Israelis. After all, it is not as if it would matter what, apart from committing suicide, the Israelis might do to gain legitimacy to those who reject Israel on religious grounds, as a vast number of Palestinian Arabs do.
In this regard, it is worth noting that Maronite Christians have yet to be perceived as legitimate rulers in Lebanon by that country’s Muslim population. That, notwithstanding the long presence of Christians in that land. Bringing these groups together has had a death toll that far exceeds all of Israel’s wars.
Why would you think that the Israeli Jews will fare better by seeking to address Arab concerns, most especially given the religious rejection of Israel, as expressed, for example, in the Hamas Covenant but which is also something believed by vast numbers of Palestinian Arabs? Might it not occur to you that, whatever the reason for voting for the Hamas, the fact that Palestinian Arabs in large numbers voted for that group suggests that the Hamas’ vile agenda is not something despised by Palestinian Arabs? And, given the large number of genuine supporters of the Hamas – which makes destruction of Israel into a religious cause -, where is peace going to come from?
My bottom line: analysis which focuses only on what Israelis need to do but ignore, basically as irrelevant, the truly radical change of heart that Palestinian Arabs must have, add nothing to the debate.
Nate:
Thank you. Well said. At the risk of repeating myself from earlier postings:
The present Hamas regime is an outlaw regime and legitimately speaks for no one. This is because PA the constitution was set up and ratified (by PLO Chairman Arafat) including a veto provision–to dissolve the parliament, at the whim of the President (not the Prime Minister). The Prime Minister is equivalent to a CEO in a company and handles the day to day decisions. The President (currently M. Abbas) is equivalent to the “Board of Directors”. The Board has the authority to replace the CEO. Similarly, Abbas has the authority to dissolve the PA Parliament and to continue dissolving parliament after parliament, until one is elected–which meets his approval. Those are the rules. However, when Abbas sought to dissolve the Ismail Haniya parliament, (as is his right to do), a civil war resulted and the bifurcation of Gaza and West Bank took place. The first thing Hamas did was to murder about a dozen Fatah officers in Gaza, by throwing them off rooftops. (If Israel threw a dozen Hamas officers off rooftops–to their death, the U.N. Security council would meet in emergency session to condemn Israel and every opponent of Israel would mention and post this event, in their vitriolic hatred of the Jewish nation).
(“Fatah” BTW: is translated from Arabic: “Conquest by way of Jihad”. “Jihad is translated as: “Holy War, as mandated by the Islamic Scriptures.) Fatah does NOT translate as: “LIBERATION by way of Jihad.” It means “conquest”. And these are the “good guys”??? Perhaps so, because at least they are relitively more honest then the Hamas, who’s charter does not speak of ‘”conquest” by Jihad’ but rather, “liberation” by the same Jihad. In both cases, it is VERY questionable whether an official Islamic “jihad” is mandated–for the exact circumstances. Many points-of-historical-fact had to be manipulated, in order to issue such a “Fatwa”. Additionally, ‘time-travel’ had to be accepted, in order to assert that the “Dome of the Rock” is actually referenced in the Qur’an, since it was a Roman-Catholic church until 70 years after the Islamic prophet Mohammed’s passing, when Jerusalem fell to invading Islamic armies.
Mitchell loves to tell us how great is is to talk.
But we have not ever discussed the pertainant subject. We cower in mortal fear–at the thought of discussing Muslim Holy Scriptures. Without such a serious discuission, we are (essentially) debating hybred flowers at a NASCAR race.
[…] facts bear that perception out. As I’ve argued before, that needs to change. Those groups working for a more peaceful and democratic Israel need support […]