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The only way to achieve Mideast peace
In a long article, Barbara Lerner lays out the only real path to Israeli-Arab peace. While other Arab peoples may be capable of achieving some measure of liberalization, democracy, and peace with their neighbors, we must recognize that this is not possible for the “Palestinians,” an artificial identity that was was brought into being in the 1960s for the sole purpose of destroying Israel.
These Arabs will never be at peace, will never know the blessings of democracy so long as they are encouraged to cling to a false and hateful identity as “Palestinians.” They are not a separate people; they are part of the Arab nation and, with few exceptions, they need to be absorbed back into it. Until they are, there will never be peace in Israel or real and lasting progress toward democracy in the southern Arab states. The biggest mistake America can make would be to keep this evil identity alive by giving it a U.S.-sponsored mini-state. The ancient land of Israel has already been divided between Arabs and Jews, into Jordan and Israel. It cannot be divided again to create another viable state. Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 27, 2003 12:37 PM | Send Comments
“[Palestinian] Arabs will never be at peace … so long as they are encouraged to cling to [an] … identity as ‘Palestinians.’ They are not a separate people; they are part of the Arab nation and … need to be absorbed back into it. … The ancient land of Israel has already been divided between Arabs and Jews, into Jordan and Israel. It cannot be divided again to create another viable state.” I think this is exactly right. I do not see anything wrong with this statement. Posted by: Unadorned on March 28, 2003 12:52 PMBarbara Lerner is right, I think, but the consequences are tragic. “Palestinians” have been invented artificially in the 1960s, but the problem is that now, therefore, they exist. Yes, I too would love for them all to pack their bags and move to the Jordanian desert, leaving the West Bank to be incorporated into the Jewish state of Israel. Problem is: that will never happen, unless the state of Israel launches a massive war against them and forecefully removes every last Arab from the West Bank, killing thousands upon thousands in the process, and subsequently deal with the political fall-out (if not the military blowback before that). It seems unlikely that this will ever happen, and if it does happen that the Jews of Israel will ever be able to enjoy their land after these atrocities. It’s a tragedy, but what can we possibly do to prevent it? Only a complete, drastic re-ordering of the entire Middle East might bring chance. If the entire region were to embrace economic liberty, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and a form of representative government with respect for basic liberties for the population. This is, in part, why the Israelis are in favor of the current war in Iraq, and hope for additional force and pressure being applied to Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. In the absence of such an extraordinary revolution, things will turn extremely ugly in the next forty years. A great war is probably inevitable sooner or later. Posted by: S.P. on March 28, 2003 6:19 PM |