I have never blogged about Israel until now. It seems pointless. I'd just get pissed. I get pissed at people in the West who insist that Israel is just as culpable in this conflict as the Palestinians and other Muslim Arabs. And pissed at Israelis who are are so full of liberal guilt that they let everyone walk all over them.
Israeli spokespeople will often say "no other nation would put up with..." and they are right, no other nation would put up with whatever shit they are taking that week they way the Israelis put up with it. But the problem is, no one really believes it because they can't imagine any nation acting so against its self-interest. For example, after the U.S. suffered a terrorist attack we responded by taking over two whole countries. So the world figures that if Israel doesn't just solve the Palestinian problem by shoving all the Palestinians into Jordan, it must be because the Israelis know they are in the wrong.
The majority of Palestinians would kick the Israelis into the sea, the stated policy of the organization they just voted for. So they figure that the Israelis would do the same to them, and the only reason they don't do it is because they can't. They have a complete lack of understanding about Jewish liberal guilt.
So anyway, what happens now that Hamas is in charge? Probably nothing much. Prior to the Olso Accords the Palestinians were committed to the destruction of Israel and Israel put up with it without doing much about it, so the same thing will happen now. The only thing different today is that there's a greater chance that Palestinian terrorists might acquire a nuclear weapon.
There is no point bloging about what is going on in the middle east because the outcome is predictable. There was never any doubt that Isreal must make peace at some point in time.
Why? Changing demographics and nature of democracy. Right now, there is about 20% arab Isrealis in Isreal. On the average, they have higher birth rates than jewish Isrealis. Sometimes late this century, the arab will outnumber the jews. That is when things get interesting.
Commentators have correctly pointed out that this is the reason why Sharon was willing to give land back. He wanted to get out of areas with heavy concentration of arabs and preserve Isreal as he knows it as long as he can.
Posted by: nobody | January 28, 2006 at 01:44 AM
It takes two sides to make peace. Israel always wanted peace, although after 1967 there was a vocal minority in Israel that wanted peace under the terms that Israel owns all the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. A point of view that I am not unsympathetic to. It certainly makes for more defensible borders.
Sharon's solution is not a bad compromise between differing viewpoints in the Israeli electorate. Building a fence makes a whole lot of sense. The U.S. ought to build a fence between us and Mexico.
Israel faces a huge demographic timebomb, but then so does Europe.
Posted by: Half Sigma | January 28, 2006 at 10:22 AM
The US/Mexico fence is another fancinating issue. It is not clear why Mexicans goverment think they have the right to help their people break our laws. Heck, they were issuing maps for crossing the border just a few days ago.
They insist this is a "human rights" issue. Poor migrants from Mexico have the "right" to a better living. Perhaps, but what will they do if millions of even poorer migrants from another country decide to show up in Mexico looking for work? They will claims that they will the right to secure their borders and it is a internal matter. If that is the case, how can they object to a fence on the US side or the border?
The US is not a solution to Mexico's internal problems. It is time for this country to have a honest discussion about how to deal with the southern border and our handling of a foregn government that would openly advcate their citizens to break our laws.
Posted by: nobody | January 28, 2006 at 11:36 AM