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Monday, December 20, 2004

Palestine

Reuters:

President Bush on Monday set aside initial reservations and backed British plans for a Middle East conference but he said upcoming Palestinian elections were just the start of a process that should not be cut short. Diplomatic sources said the Bush administration would be sending a senior diplomat to the February conference in London, which is aimed at fostering Palestinian reforms after the death of President Yasser Arafat. At the same time Washington has tried to assure Israel that the conference would not be an attempt to bypass a U.S.-backed peace 'road map,' which obliges Palestinians to end militant violence before statehood negotiations.
I agree with Bush on this one. A legitimate democratic Palestinian government committed to stopping terrorism is a prerequisite for any serious negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The Jan. 9 elections will hopefully be a step in the right direction, but elections are not democracy and trying to move to quickly could in fact spoil the process. Also in the news today is a reminder that all the opponents of peace in the region are not Palestinian.
Israel's main grouping of settlers called today for civil disobedience to resist the government's plans to dismantle all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and four small ones in the West Bank. The settler leaders, gathered in the Yesha Council, endorsed a call to non-violent resistance to the government issued on Sunday by a former council leader, Pinchas Wallerstein. It would be the first time that the council has explicitly backed illegal activity in pursuit of its goals.
Israeli settlements in the occupied territory are a violation of international agreements and the U.S. government should, in my opinion, be more forceful in denouncing them. While I think we should firmly be an ally of Israel and help ensure it's defense from outside threats that does not mean we should turn a blind eye to it's mistakes. We can support Israel and condemn Palestinian terrorism while still acknowledging that Israel is not perfect. (Turkmenistan link via Crosblog)

2 Comments:

Blogger MacBoar said...

Oh man, I have the hardest time with this and if I do, I can't imagine the inner struggle of the Israelis. But I start from a different point...I do not feel Israel is an occupier; they are the victor. They were the ones attacked in `67 and `73, they just took the land as spoils. Now granted, with it came the people which is the crux of the problem. I'm sorry, but I just have the hardest time with this point. I mean, it'd be like having to give back parts of the western US just because we captured it. Look, the northern part of Italy speaks German, does this mean it has to go back to Austria? Grrrr...

I think at this time the ball is in the Palestinian's court. Sharon has shown at least the effort, like today when Israel release something like 170 prisoners. This was of course met with tepid response from the Palestinian candidates. Anything that resembles a favorable view of Israel is poo-poo'd (technical term!!).

12/20/2004 08:50:00 PM  
Blogger Dave Justus said...

I could perhaps agree with the Israel as a victor rather than occupier thought if that was the was that Israel had been acting.

If the occupied territories are a part of Israel, then the people of those territories should have Israeli citizenship and all the rights that go with it. Israel does not want to give them this, as that would change Israel from being a majority Jewish state to a majority Arab state, something that Israel obviously does not want.

Right of conquest is a time honored tradition of establishing control of territory. Nonetheless, we are attempting in the modern world to change that tradition. I expect that continued progress in changing that tradition will be in the interest Israel as much as any other nation. There will be a Palestinian state eventually I expect. Continued building of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories simply delays that day and makes it more painful to achieve, which is not in the best interest of anyone in the region.

12/21/2004 02:56:00 PM  

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