Personally, I can’t see a peaceful resolution to this situation. I mean, what are Sharon and Arrafat going to talk about at the next peace talks that the two countries haven’t already discussed? This problem goes back through the ages… tension just keeps on growing and growing. When people are prepared to strap TNT to themselves and kill innocent children in the name of patriotism then you have to question the mind set of some of these people, as well as the lengths they are willing to go to show it.
Any possible solutions that you guys think might be feasible? And ones that Arrafat and Sharon would consider? I’m afraid I just don’t see any…
And, in your view, what, exactly is the “inevitable” that is being delayed? Total obliteration of one side or the other, or both?
It can only be accomplished through teaching by example, of course, but the solution is to have every human being on the planet recognize that the only holy and inviolable place that can exist is within the heart of each individual, and that to attribute holiness, or sacredness, or sanctity to some little bits of geography, implying that other little bits of geography are less holy or sacred is silliness at best, and blasphemy at worst. I don’t expect this to be accomplished easily or quickly, but it is the only real-world solution I can see.
A Deus ex machinawould come in handy about now, though.
This topic has been debated extensively on this board, but I have a couple of thoughts.
One- How do you make peace with people who are willing to suicide for their beliefs? I don’t understand how this can be conducive to the peace process.
Two- If you want peace, you teach your children peace. I don’t know about Israel, but it is my understanding that in school, the books the Palestinian children have don’t show Israel on any maps, because they are being taught that Israel will be obliterated and all Israelis will be pushed off into the sea. This does not sound like the teaching of a people who seek peace.
War is coming, and it won’t be pretty. Israel will come well-equipped and pissed off, and their enemies know that isn’t good.
There is only one solution that I can see, even as a peace loving guy:
That Israel and the Palestinians duke it out. Naturally the Israelis will have the upper hand at first due to military superiority, but they don’t have the willingness to die for their cause quite like their opponents AND (this is a damn big and) the other Middle East countries like Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria I doubt will just simply sit around and watch one of the compatriots go down in flames. That means another 6 day war in which Israel comes down hard on all of its neighbors and the whole cycle begins again.
There is no way to solve the problem. When Israel was founded in 1948, it was immediately clear that there was no way around the bitter fighting in what everyone considered their “homeland”. Then the US funded Israel and now they have F-16s while the Palestinians have rocks and bombs they can strap to their chests.
It’s a shame, a very big shame, that Israel ever let their own sense of establishment and nationalism get out of hand like it has, but there’s nothing to be done about it now. Ever since it has come to light that the Israels have truly become a basically racist nation, there has been little left for the Palestinians to do but fight it out. And when they fight, they die, which is even more shameful.
The only way peace could happen is if the two sides decided to become one nation and live together, but that is the entire problem: they can’t live together. Either they don’t want to or just plain can’t do it. Either way, there’s going to be tension and every now and then the tension boils over and people die. It’s sad, I know. I don’t support the killing of innocent civilians, but sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the innocent and the guilty. Everyone is mixed up in a sordid affair over there (sorry to use such a term) and it’s just going to go on to its inevitable end.
That’s - not a solution. One day of shooting war causes more casualties and more destruction than several months of the current low-intensity situation. War seriously, radically sucks.
The problem is basically one of cutting the extremists on both sides out of the decision-making process. Not easily done, and currently way harder for the Palestinians than for the Israelis.
Hard to see a way out with Arafats current powerbase, I’ll agree. But if he were to be outmaneuvered by cooler heads…
“Step aside extremist leaders, I have plans on making friends with our neighbours”
“Really? You do?!? Buddy, you’re in control!”.
I’d love to see it, but can you see ANY WAY at all how this could be done?
As was pointed out earlier, you can’t really stop people from fighting a war when they don’t care if they live. But am I the only one who thinks that the Palestinians have already pushed it too far? Israel could deliver such a powerful knock-out blow to the Palestinians that could send them back to the stone age. Israeli patience MUST be running thin…
That’s definitely true, but can the Israelis really deal with that kind of an all out war? They would lose their American financial backing if they ever decided to annihilate the Palestinians and they would be internationally condemned if they ever took things too far. The Palestinians have no fear of that because they do not want American support or other international support; they have the unconditional backing of all anti-Israeli countries.
The question that remains in my mind is whether or not the Israelis deserve US financial backing whether or not they attack Palestine/occupied territories. They are in a tight spot and there is no clear cut right and wrong as there usually is. Morals are hard pressed to find stable ground in this situation.
The whole thing is too complicated to call. What do you guys think?
A while back, a painting by Marc Chagall was stolen from the Jerusalem Museum. The ransom note has been recieved and analyzed to authenticate it, and the demand was surprising.
The people holding the painting have said that, in order for the painting to be returned, there must be peace in the Middle East. Authorities don’t know where the culprit’s sympathies lie, but feel strongly that the ransom note is geniuine and that the writer or writers are in possession of the painting based on information they provided about the artwork.
If they won’t make peace for the sake of humanity, or world peace, how about art?