Al Jazeera has gone all Wikileaks on our ass, and is in the process of publishing thousands of documents revealing the talks between Israel and the PA. Finally, we get to hear what the Palestinians have been offering in the peace process.
According to the papers, the Palestinians offer to limit the right of return to a symbolic number (tens of thousands) of Palestinians who will be allowed back into Israel; they are prepared to let Israel keep most of the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem; and to swap land in the West Bank for Israeli lands. This is an offer that I can live with, and so can many other Israelis.
Of course, the Palestinian leadership (we're talking Fatah, yes? Not Hamas) vehemently denies what has been published. But anyone who has been following the peace process realizes that what was published is very close to the truth.
This is the thing that was missing. We in Israel know what our leaders have been offering. Not right away, but some time later. For instance, former PM Olmert has revealed that he offered the Palestinians more than 95% of the West Bank, control over part of East Jerusalem, and a token number (a few thousands) of Palestinians that will be allowed to return to Israel. Most Israelis are against this offer, and Olmert's party (like Barak's Labor before it) took a political hit as a result. But it has entered Israeli consciousness. Israelis now realize that some of our leaders think that we must give all that up for peace, and they are getting used to the idea. In time, they will learn to live with it.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, have not been exposed to what their leaders say in the negotiations. The Palestinian leaders keep telling their people that they will not give up the right of return for every Palestinian refugee (several millions), and not an inch of East Jerusalem. As a result, the Palestinians are not being prepared for peace, and we Israelis feel like the peace process is pointless, since there will be no way to implement it.
We see the reaction now. They are shocked, and accuse their leaders of betrayal. Imagine how they would have reacted if an actual agreement was reached.
But now, thanks to Al Jazeera, they will have to start thinking about it. In time, they will learn to live with it.
Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palestine. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The masks are beginning to fall
So Helen Thomas, respected reporter and long time Israel hater, who just this week called the Israeli flotilla operation a "massacre", has been revealed (surprise! surprise!) as nothing more than a regular anti-Semite, who believes that the Jews are subhumans who do not deserve to have the same rights as other people.
When you scratch the surface of most of Israel's vehement critics, that is what you'll find.
It didn't use to be that way. In the past, it was rational to believe that Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is the root of the problem, the cause of the conflict. Those of us who are inside the conflict knew it is more complicated than that, but many of us, including myself, also believed that the occupation is the main issue. And the position that put the blame entirely on Israel was understandable.
In the past two decades, however, Israel has transferred control of the Gaza Strip and 40% of the West Bank to the Palestinians, offered to give them control over more than 90% of the West Bank, and publicly acknowledged the right of the Palestinian people to form a sovereign state in these regions. The majority of Israelis is in favor of the two-state solution, and wants the two nations to live side-by-side in peace and dignity. Only the extreme right still rejects this solution.
How did the Palestinians react to these changes? How do they regard the rights of the Jewish people? Currently they have three leaderships. The Gaza government openly declares it wants to annihilate Israel, and its ideology implies that all Jews should be exterminated. The West Bank government accepts the two states solution, but wants one state (Palestine) to be ethnically cleansed of Jews, and the other state (Israel) to have a Palestinian majority, and give away its Jewish identity. And the leadership of the Israeli-Palestinians warns its people not to play any positive role in Israeli society, and refuses to acknowledge Israel's legitimacy, defining it as a colonial entity. You don't hear any Palestinians acknowledging that Jews are also natives of this land, and have a natural right to live in it. The most they are willing to do is accept that since they can't get rid of the Jews, they are willing to let them stay.
And yet, the global anti-Israel rhetoric has only grown increasingly more hateful and violent, and now uses inflammatory words like "apartheid", "genocide", "massacre", and other words that have no relation to the reality of the situation, but are thrown around generously to describe Israel's actions. How come?
I believe what happened is that the reasonable critics of Israel have realized by now that the situation is more complicated than they thought, and adopted a more careful view. So that left the Israel-bashing to the anti-Semites who disguise themselves as human right believers, and since the media tries to be "balanced", the side that is against Israel is represented by these anti-Semites, who are poisoning the minds of the viewers.
Well, I'm drawing a personal line in the sand. The view that blames "Israeli occupation" for being the root of the problem is no longer reasonable or defensible. I will no longer regard it as understandable. There are enough facts to refute it, and anyone who still holds it in the face of these facts does so disingenuously. Anyone who in this day and age puts the majority of the blame on Israel does so because they are an anti-Semite.
When you scratch the surface of most of Israel's vehement critics, that is what you'll find.
It didn't use to be that way. In the past, it was rational to believe that Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is the root of the problem, the cause of the conflict. Those of us who are inside the conflict knew it is more complicated than that, but many of us, including myself, also believed that the occupation is the main issue. And the position that put the blame entirely on Israel was understandable.
In the past two decades, however, Israel has transferred control of the Gaza Strip and 40% of the West Bank to the Palestinians, offered to give them control over more than 90% of the West Bank, and publicly acknowledged the right of the Palestinian people to form a sovereign state in these regions. The majority of Israelis is in favor of the two-state solution, and wants the two nations to live side-by-side in peace and dignity. Only the extreme right still rejects this solution.
How did the Palestinians react to these changes? How do they regard the rights of the Jewish people? Currently they have three leaderships. The Gaza government openly declares it wants to annihilate Israel, and its ideology implies that all Jews should be exterminated. The West Bank government accepts the two states solution, but wants one state (Palestine) to be ethnically cleansed of Jews, and the other state (Israel) to have a Palestinian majority, and give away its Jewish identity. And the leadership of the Israeli-Palestinians warns its people not to play any positive role in Israeli society, and refuses to acknowledge Israel's legitimacy, defining it as a colonial entity. You don't hear any Palestinians acknowledging that Jews are also natives of this land, and have a natural right to live in it. The most they are willing to do is accept that since they can't get rid of the Jews, they are willing to let them stay.
And yet, the global anti-Israel rhetoric has only grown increasingly more hateful and violent, and now uses inflammatory words like "apartheid", "genocide", "massacre", and other words that have no relation to the reality of the situation, but are thrown around generously to describe Israel's actions. How come?
I believe what happened is that the reasonable critics of Israel have realized by now that the situation is more complicated than they thought, and adopted a more careful view. So that left the Israel-bashing to the anti-Semites who disguise themselves as human right believers, and since the media tries to be "balanced", the side that is against Israel is represented by these anti-Semites, who are poisoning the minds of the viewers.
Well, I'm drawing a personal line in the sand. The view that blames "Israeli occupation" for being the root of the problem is no longer reasonable or defensible. I will no longer regard it as understandable. There are enough facts to refute it, and anyone who still holds it in the face of these facts does so disingenuously. Anyone who in this day and age puts the majority of the blame on Israel does so because they are an anti-Semite.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)