Posted 6/10/2003 04:35:00 PM by Ocean Guy
Peace Process

Thanks to Laura for pointing me to this one, by Caroline Glick.

In listening to the debate about the settlements and the necessity of removing them, I ask why? Why is it discussed as removal of the settlements and settlers but it's transfer of Arabs? Why are Arabs living in Israel as full citizens, yet it is assumed that the second palestinian state will be Judenrein? Why do the Arabs label Israel as an Apartheid state, and do it with a straight face? Why do otherwise intelligent people repeat the lie throughout Europe and the US? Why are the Arabs so unwilling to live peacefully with Jews?

Caroline Glick’s column poses some of the same questions.

If the Palestinians are committed to peaceful coexistence with Israel, why should they demand that their nascent state be Judenrein? Why should it matter to the Palestinians if overlooking their villages is a man named Shibi Drori who patiently tends to his vineyard or a man named Rabbi Melet who teaches religious Jews to farm and raises goats?

My conclusion on the Arab’s stance on Israel is that they simply do not want peace, they want a world where Israel doesn’t’ exist. Glick seems to have used the same logic.

Also on Tuesday, US President George W. Bush attended a summit of regional leaders to which Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was not invited. Israel was banned from this US-sponsored forum in Sharm e-Sheikh because the other guests, particularly the popular potentate of Saudi Arabia, refused to sit in the same room as Sharon.
After tolerating this Arab discrimination of their Jewish neighbor, US officials saw their efforts to get their Arab friends to agree to normalize relations with Israel meet with abject failure. Then, too, Bush and his aides stood by as their host, Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, refused their request to reinstate his ambassador to Israel.
And yet, apparently unmoved by Arab intransigence, at the end of the meeting Bush announced his determination to see Israelis expelled from their homes to remove obstacles to peace. At Aqaba on Wednesday, Bush reiterated, "the issue of settlements must be addressed for peace to be achieved."

There is a huge disconnect between American policy in regards to Israel and reality. It is by no means a new phenomenon coming out of the Bush Administration, but it is a great disappointment.

Because of his tough stance and his clarity in fighting terrorism elsewhere in the world, I had great hope that this Administration could actually do something different with its efforts to promote Middle East peace while defending Israel’s security. It’s a major disappointment to see the same old crap oozing out of Washington that offers no real hope for real peace. Mr. Bush I expected more.