israel and lebanon
Supporting Israel
Re "Anti-U.S. Feeling Leaves Arab Reformers Isolated" (article, August 9), describing the problems that the U.S. faces today for supporting Israel ( Read more... )
Re "Anti-U.S. Feeling Leaves Arab Reformers Isolated" (article, August 9), describing the problems that the U.S. faces today for supporting Israel ( Read more... )
Date: Aug 10, 2006 2:07 PM
On 8/10/06, Ilya Shlyakhter wrote:
>>Maybe the issue of "settlements" has nothing to do with the
>>essence of the Arab/Muslim animosity directed against israel?
>Maybe; though I think that while most Arabs _want_ Israel off the map,
>many will accept (settle for) Israel minus the settlements.
that is an option but hypthetical.
between 1948 and 1967, Israel had no "territories" and no "occupation" and certainly no "settlements". So, what was bothering the Arabs? How can dismantling "settlements" and withdrawing from "territories" solve the problems of that time when they wanted to infiltrate and kill Jews? You certainly knowthat the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was founded in 1964 and its first terror operation was on January 1, 1965 - almost three years before the 1967 war. Please, just ask yourself, what "Palestine" were they desirous of 'liberating' then?
>But my point still stands that settlements are not vital to Israel's
>security and existence,
well, on this point I would say that the communities do contribute. they keep missiles away from Ben-Gurion airport, they prevent the recurrence in the future of the "Kassam syndrome" in the south and the Katyushas in the north. If there are no communities, there probably wouldn't be the IDF and you really don't think a UNIFIL in the territories would be more effective than in Lebanon which ostensibly is a real state with an army.
Of course, international law recognized in 1922 the right of Jews to "close settlement" in the area now called the West Bank and to reconstitute their national homeland there.
>and the political capital and Arab goodwill
>that the U.S. has spent tacitly supporting Israel's
>settlement-building would be much better spent on supporting Israel's
>efforts on truly vital fronts like the fight against Hezbollah.
well, it seems that within a day, Israel will agree to a ceasefire along the lines you think is worhtwhile to go. If, as I presume, the situation will not get better, I hope we can continue this dialogue.
Yisrael
Reply
Leave a comment