Forgive me if this sounds dumb, but would walling up areas prevent suicide bombers?
I mean, with a metal detector and all.
I suppose it would, would the cost be too much?
In the absence of justice, peace is just a pipe dream. In Ireland, peace protests and demonstrations took place throughout the Troubles. They made very little difference. Real change only came about when the causes of injustice were addressed. It’s naive to suggest that peace is a goal in itself; it can never be achieved unless it’s in the context of an overall settlement, to which all key parties are signed up.
The reason suicide bombers can pass (relatively) freely into Israel is that Israel relies on Palestinian workers (largely for menial jobs). And, of course, many Palestinians rely on Israel to provide employment. I believe there are border controls, but the regular volume of human traffic is too high properly to check everyone. “Fortress Israel” would rely on a new economic model.
There are a lot of checkpoints in and out of the territories. As for a Fortress- well, they ARE building walls and fences along the border.
Let’s see here-
Not a majority, but that seems somewhat encouraging to me.
Rather a small number.
Note the lack of a “destroy Israel” thing, and that the Intifada is not limited to the bombings.
Also: a majority (56.3%) of respondents said they felt pessimistic or very pessimistic about the future. I think if conditions in the territories improved (unemployment is very high, for example, there is not a lot of water, etc.), you would see fewer people willing to throw their lives away in this manner. I think the idea that their lives will amount to nothing anyway encourages the ‘take them down with me’ tactic of suicide bombing. It’s a strategy that acknowledges the superior power of the enemy (and I suppose it’s unnecessary to say that I think Israel’s actions and presence add a lot of fuel to the fire).