Whose Burden in the Mideast?
To the Editor:
Re “A Real Test for the Palestinians’’ (editorial, Sept. 18):
The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2000, operating under the assumption that Israel will concede one-sidedly and unendingly under the threat of terror, resulted not in peace but in an intifada.
President Bush has been clear that he supports peace talks, but only when terror is off the table and all are operating in the true search for peaceful coexistence.
Hamas’s refusal to renounce terror is consistent with its taking control of Gaza a year ago and using it only as a launching pad for missiles.
It must renounce terror and show commitment to peaceful coexistence before negotiations can hope to be successful.
Bruce Dov Krulwich
Beit Shemesh, Israel, Sept. 18, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
NYT letter (not mine): Who Is to Blame for Gazans’ Plight?
The letter below isn't mine, but it's so on the mark that I wanted to post it here:
Who Is to Blame for Gazans’ Plight? (3 Letters)
Published: September 15, 2006
To the Editor:
Re “As Parents Go Unpaid, Gaza Children Go Hungry” (front page, Sept. 14):
While I feel sympathy for the children who suffer needlessly in Gaza, their parents’ generation needs to understand that actions have consequences.
If the electorate wants a government run by a party that is sworn to destroy Israel (the formative Palestinian state’s major source of financing), it shouldn’t be surprised when Israel cuts off financing in response.
One of the most powerful features of a democracy is that the electorate can get what it wants. One of the most dangerous features of a democracy is that the electorate gets what it asks for, whether or not it’s what it wants or even deserves.
Jeremy M. Posner
Who Is to Blame for Gazans’ Plight? (3 Letters)
Published: September 15, 2006
To the Editor:
Re “As Parents Go Unpaid, Gaza Children Go Hungry” (front page, Sept. 14):
While I feel sympathy for the children who suffer needlessly in Gaza, their parents’ generation needs to understand that actions have consequences.
If the electorate wants a government run by a party that is sworn to destroy Israel (the formative Palestinian state’s major source of financing), it shouldn’t be surprised when Israel cuts off financing in response.
One of the most powerful features of a democracy is that the electorate can get what it wants. One of the most dangerous features of a democracy is that the electorate gets what it asks for, whether or not it’s what it wants or even deserves.
Jeremy M. Posner
Thursday, September 07, 2006
What would you do?
Sometimes a cartoon can say something better than words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_6uJxlDcg
Bottom line: If the Palestinians don't stop terror, Israel has no choice but to repsond.
Spread the link around!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_6uJxlDcg
Bottom line: If the Palestinians don't stop terror, Israel has no choice but to repsond.
Spread the link around!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Who made the West Bank what it is?
It's important for everyone to remember who made the West Bank what it is. Who put the Palestinians into refugee camps? Who decided not to create a Palestinian state? Who could have built up a modern economy and didn't?
The answer is simple: Jordan. And in Gaza it was Egypt. They're the ones who controled this area from 1948 to 1967. They put the refugees into refugee camps instead of building towns and cities. They kept them dirt poor instead of building an economy.
And most of all, they kept the territory without making a Palestinian state.
Everything that the Palestinians claim to want now, a state on the West Bank with Jerusalem as its capital, could have been created by Jordan. And they didn't do it.
Israel spent those years building the country from nothing to a high-tech and agricultural powerhouse. Israel spent the early year building housing and towns for Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Israel spent those years doing all the things that Jordan could have done in the West Bank (or Egypt in Gaza).
So when you see horrible pictures from the West Bank, blame Jordan. Blame the Arabs themselves. And think about why they're not doing anything about it to this day.
The answer is simple: Jordan. And in Gaza it was Egypt. They're the ones who controled this area from 1948 to 1967. They put the refugees into refugee camps instead of building towns and cities. They kept them dirt poor instead of building an economy.
And most of all, they kept the territory without making a Palestinian state.
Everything that the Palestinians claim to want now, a state on the West Bank with Jerusalem as its capital, could have been created by Jordan. And they didn't do it.
Israel spent those years building the country from nothing to a high-tech and agricultural powerhouse. Israel spent the early year building housing and towns for Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Israel spent those years doing all the things that Jordan could have done in the West Bank (or Egypt in Gaza).
So when you see horrible pictures from the West Bank, blame Jordan. Blame the Arabs themselves. And think about why they're not doing anything about it to this day.
Remember 9/11, remember who we're dealing with
As 9/11 approaches, we need to remember that it wasn't a lone event, it was part of a global trend in Arab terror. This is the same trend that Israel is fighting to this day.
The video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vOJCQr1Now shows Palestinains celebrating when the World Trade Center fell. As 9/11 approaches, watch it, remember it, and remember who it is that we're dealing with here.
If you're on Hezbollah's side, you're on the side of the celebrators in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vOJCQr1Now
The video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vOJCQr1Now shows Palestinains celebrating when the World Trade Center fell. As 9/11 approaches, watch it, remember it, and remember who it is that we're dealing with here.
If you're on Hezbollah's side, you're on the side of the celebrators in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vOJCQr1Now
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Just imagine if the Lebanon war hadn't been needed...
Every day there's talk on CNN and in the American media blaming Israel for devastation in Lebanon, anger in the Arab world, troups in Lebanon and Gaza, and all the Arab world's troubles. I think that we need to keep a few things in mind, and be sure to remind others of these few simple facts:
1. If, after Israel withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza, the Arabs had built peaceful lives there, Israel would have stayed out, and in fact would probably have withdrew from more territory (legislation currently on hold because of Lebanon).
2. If Hamas hadn't kidnapped soldiers from Gaza, and Hezbollah hadn't kidnapped soldiers from Lebanon, and if both hadn't fired almost a thousand missiles into Israeli towns with no Israeli response, there would have been no war.
3. If, the day after the war started, Hamas and Hezbollah had said "OK, it's not worth a war, here are your soldiers back, we'll stop firing missiles, just don't attack us" then the war would not have happened.
4. If, a week or so into the war when it was clear that their infrastructure was being hurt, they had said "OK, we'll give you back the soldiers and stop firing missiles," most of the damage would not have been done.
5. If, right now, Hamas would disavow terror and accept co-existance with Israel, money would flow into the Palestinian Autonomy from Israel, the US, and the World Bank.
Of course, once we're thinking along these lines:
6. If the Arabs had accepted the 1947 UN partition plan, there would be no problems today
7. If Jordan and Egypt had built Palestinian countries in the West Bank and Gaza, instead of keeping the Palestinians in refugee camps for 19 years, the Palestinians might have a normal society today.
The world cannot afford to forget that terrorists are responsible for the consequences of terror.
1. If, after Israel withdrew from Lebanon and Gaza, the Arabs had built peaceful lives there, Israel would have stayed out, and in fact would probably have withdrew from more territory (legislation currently on hold because of Lebanon).
2. If Hamas hadn't kidnapped soldiers from Gaza, and Hezbollah hadn't kidnapped soldiers from Lebanon, and if both hadn't fired almost a thousand missiles into Israeli towns with no Israeli response, there would have been no war.
3. If, the day after the war started, Hamas and Hezbollah had said "OK, it's not worth a war, here are your soldiers back, we'll stop firing missiles, just don't attack us" then the war would not have happened.
4. If, a week or so into the war when it was clear that their infrastructure was being hurt, they had said "OK, we'll give you back the soldiers and stop firing missiles," most of the damage would not have been done.
5. If, right now, Hamas would disavow terror and accept co-existance with Israel, money would flow into the Palestinian Autonomy from Israel, the US, and the World Bank.
Of course, once we're thinking along these lines:
6. If the Arabs had accepted the 1947 UN partition plan, there would be no problems today
7. If Jordan and Egypt had built Palestinian countries in the West Bank and Gaza, instead of keeping the Palestinians in refugee camps for 19 years, the Palestinians might have a normal society today.
The world cannot afford to forget that terrorists are responsible for the consequences of terror.
Friday, September 01, 2006
The illogic of the "disparity" issue in the Lebanon war
To make a point, imagine the following scene: A thousand Arab terrorists carrying grenades run towards a crowded Israeli shopping center. Or maybe towards Times Square. A thousand Israeli (or New York) policemen are standing near the mall with their sidearms.
Do we all agree that each policeman's job would be to take out their gun and shoot one of the terrorists? That would be their job, right? To protect the citizens in the mall against the terrorists.
Now, if this situation happened, and the policemen did their job and protected the citizens by shooting the terrorists, there would be a thousand terrorists dead and no citizens or policemen dead. Any dead citizens or policemen is a sign of a policeman that didn't do his job well enough.
Would this disparity be unfair? Would it show aggressive behavior by the policemen? NO! It would show policemen doing their job in a defensive situation.
THIS WAS THE SITUATION IN THE LEBANON WAR.
Israel withdrew from Lebanon and from Gaza, and both were used to fire missiles at Israeli cities. After giving world powers time to stop it, it was the Israeli army's job to stop the missiles. The only question now is whether they did a good enough job.
Disparities in the counts of dead and wounded are no sign of problems on Israel's part, it's a sign of terrorists needing to be stopped. I hope that Americans and Europeans reading this never have to learn this first hand.
Do we all agree that each policeman's job would be to take out their gun and shoot one of the terrorists? That would be their job, right? To protect the citizens in the mall against the terrorists.
Now, if this situation happened, and the policemen did their job and protected the citizens by shooting the terrorists, there would be a thousand terrorists dead and no citizens or policemen dead. Any dead citizens or policemen is a sign of a policeman that didn't do his job well enough.
Would this disparity be unfair? Would it show aggressive behavior by the policemen? NO! It would show policemen doing their job in a defensive situation.
THIS WAS THE SITUATION IN THE LEBANON WAR.
Israel withdrew from Lebanon and from Gaza, and both were used to fire missiles at Israeli cities. After giving world powers time to stop it, it was the Israeli army's job to stop the missiles. The only question now is whether they did a good enough job.
Disparities in the counts of dead and wounded are no sign of problems on Israel's part, it's a sign of terrorists needing to be stopped. I hope that Americans and Europeans reading this never have to learn this first hand.
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