Excellent! I’m all behind you.
Istara:
I’d be willing to pay the settlers myself, if they’d pack up and move out of the “disputed” territory…
Actually, I think the international community would have no probelm footing the bill if that were the only stumbling block to a negotiated settlement.
I somewhat understand the Israeli position about the West Bank, but if ever there was a time to take the moral high ground, it’s now. Show the world you’re a big boy, act like an adult, and take the lead in solving this problem-- which started out local, but is now global.
Along the same lines, to meet Israel’s security needs the international community could offer security guarantees, or the U.S. could. Set up a framework whereby an incursion into Israeli territory by Syria or Lebanon will result in an automatic defense by the U.S. or an international coalition.
Israel has a very valid concern about the safety of the areas beneath the Golan Heighs - an armed Palestinian state puts Israel in a very indefensible position - it’s almost like stationing a foreign military in the middle of the country. As long as the Palestinians continue to call for the destruction of Israel, you can see where this is a probem.
Sam:
Yes, I was thinking along those lines, too. The problem is, of course, that you get little bands or single episodes of terrorist strikes, and then you have to define if it was a gov’t backed “incursion” or just some nut case. Then it starts all over again.
Dead,
I apparently did not make my point quite clear. This is more than pandering to the masses.
The conditions for most Arabs within their own lands is abysmal. Leadership, with rare exceptions, provides little in the way of basic freedoms, human rights, and education. (Google up the UN’s Arab Human Development Report for information on the current situation.) Abusive Arab leadership uses Israel as a distraction, as a boogeyman to blame all problems on. If there wasn’t Israel (and to some extent the US as well) then the Arab in the street might actually start looking at their own dismal csituation and demanding more out their own governments. Why do you think the Suads funnel so much into terror groups? If real peace came then Arafat might lose his personal fiefdom. The conflict’s continuance is in many individual’s personal best interests.
Sam:
This is hardly the official stance of the PLO as far as I know. Who are you thinking of? Hamas?