"In a world which is demonstrably on the side of the Palestinians and Arabs - where Israel stands virtually alone - the United States has a special role to play," said the AIPAC director. "When the United States is even-handed, Israel is automatically at a disadvantage, tilting the diplomatic playing field overwhelmingly toward the Palestinians and Arabs."This is ridiculous. The idea that the sole job of the US is to perpetually side with Israel, even when they're doing outrageous things like launching bloody, collateral damage-filled invasions of Gaza and Lebanon, and stopping boats in international waters with grossly disproportional force, is absurd. Israel has a right to exist, of course. But there needs to be a two-state solution (even George W. Bush thought so), and there needs to be some mechanism put in place to stop the Israelis from sending more and more settlers to effectively occupy the West Bank.
And the Israeli hard-liners do themselves no favors by effectively claiming that anyone who criticizes them is anti-Semitic. The fact of the matter is that the right wing in Israel (think Avigdor Lieberman and his crowd) are just as disinterested in peace as Hamas and Hezbollah. The moment a Palestinian state is formed is the moment Hamas and Hezbollah lose their cause celebre. Of course, maniacs will still try to blow up buses in Tel Aviv, but I doubt many Palestinians will be interested in martyring themselves once they actually have what they desire: a state of their own.* And similarly, the moment that the Hamas and Hezbollah stop engaging in violence against Israel, no one is going to vote for radical anti-Palestinian politicians like Avigdor Lieberman. So these two groups are responsible for ensuring that the cycle of violence goes on and on and on.
*The vast majority of Palestinians, I maintain, are not interested in anti-Semitism or jihad. They want to exist as an independent state.
No comments:
Post a Comment