Although my question is general, I would like to discuss the question with reference to this new law:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/fc?cid=34&tmpl=fc&in=World&cat=Mideast_Conflict
According to the story, this law could force Palestinians married to Israelis to live separate lives.
If true, add in the fact that Israel is currently building a wall on part of its border. How do they expect to be taken seriously during the peace process?
Two very different issues.
The first has little to do with peace. It is misguided piece of stupidity as bad as rounding up Americans of Japanese descent during WWII in my first read of it (I’m open to hearing more info and having my mind changed) but is an act of internal prejudice akin to current American anti-immigrantism more than any influence on the peace process.
The fence has everything to do with peace: if negotiations fail, then the only option for security is the fence. I have been a big believer in the fence as the best of the awful options open if one believes that negotiations are, for whatever reason, not likely to bring peace. That said, any construction at this point in time is an impediment to progress. Precisely because it does state that you feel that negotiations are unlikely to bring results. Moreover, any construction that goes beyond Green Line borders (as portions of the fence do) impede the process as well.
It seems misguided to me as well and rather stupid but the Israelis claim (I do not know the truth of it) that they have a few dozen instances of Palestinians involved in terrorism against Israel who possess Israeli passcards (or citizenship or something) that allows them free movement around Israel. As such they are a greta danger to the state.
Again I make no claims about how justified that notion is…just giving you their side of the story as I understand it. On the upside the law needs to be renewed every year so they have to keep revisiting this issue and its not a done forever deal. I’ll grant it seems better to me had the law not been passed but this mitigates it to some extent.
The NY Times has somewhat more complete coverage:
Israel Blocks Palestinians From Marrying Into Residency
Re : Marriages.
It’s not a matter of terrorism, but of demographics. 130,000 Pals got Israeli citizenship in the last decade thanks to marriages.
If we are judging the desire for peace on civil rights laws, then the Arab nations are in full war mode.
I think that Israel wants peace. I think that, through decades of extraordinary “prodding” (too mild a term) from the other side, they’ve lost sight of the best way to get it. They’ve forgotten that if you push someone, their natural response is to push back. (The same lesson needs to be learned by the Palestinians, of course.)
With all the terrorism and anti-israeli sentiment present in palestine, how can the Palestinians claim to truly want peace?
Seriously, isn’t it obvious that both sides of this war have been doing stupid, irrational, violent, and immoral things for a very long time? Why are you all of the sudden surprised at one of them?
Interesting pieces in the LA Times. You may have to do a quick registration, but it’s free.