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| Israel-Palestine |
| "Today Gaza, Tomorrow Jerusalem" Daniel Pipes |
| 2005-08-15 |
| [NY Sun title: "Are Critics Of Israel Correct?"] Are Israel's critics correct? Does the "occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza cause the Palestinian Arabs' anti-Semitism, their suicide factories, and their terrorism? And is it true these horrors will end only when Israeli civilians and troops leave the territories? The answer is coming soon. Starting August 15, the Israeli government will evict about 8,000 Israelis from Gaza and turn their land over to the Palestinian Authority. In addition to being a unique event in modern history (no other democracy has forcibly uprooted thousands of its own citizens of one religion from their lawful homes), it also offers a rare, live, social-science experiment. We stand at an interpretive divide. If Israel's critics are right, the Gaza withdrawal will improve Palestinian attitudes toward Israel, leading to an end of incitement and a steep drop in attempted violence, followed by a renewal of negotiations and a full settlement. Logic requires, after all, that if "occupation" is the problem, ending it, even partially, will lead to a solution. But I forecast a very different outcome. Given that about 80% of Palestinian Arabs continue to reject Israel's very existence, signs of Israeli weakness, such as the forthcoming Gaza withdrawal, will instead inspire heightened Palestinian irredentism. Absorbing their new gift without gratitude, Palestinian Arabs will focus on those territories Israelis have not evacuated. (This is what happened after Israeli forces fled Lebanon.) The retreat will inspire not comity but a new rejectionist exhilaration, a greater frenzy of anti-Zionist anger, and a surge in anti-Israel violence. Palestinian Arabs themselves are openly saying as much. A top Hamas figure in Gaza, Ahmed al-Bahar says "Israel has never been in such a state of retreat and weakness as it is today following more than four years of the intifada. Hamas's heroic attacks exposed the weakness and volatility of the impotent Zionist security establishment. The withdrawal marks the end of the Zionist dream and is a sign of the moral and psychological decline of the Jewish state. We believe that the resistance is the only way to pressure the Jews." A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri says likewise that the withdrawal is "due to the Palestinian resistance operations. 
and we will continue our resistance." Others are more specific. At a mass rally in Gaza City last Thursday, about 10,000 Palestinian Arabs danced, sang, and chanted, "Today Gaza, tomorrow Jerusalem." The commander of Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees, Jamal Abu Samhadaneh announced Sunday, "We will move our cells to the West Bank" and warned "The withdrawal will not be complete without the West Bank and Jerusalem." The Palestinian Authority's Ahmed Qurei also asserts, "Our march will stop only in Jerusalem." Palestinian Arab intentions worry even Israeli leftists. An Arab affairs specialist for Ha'aretz, Danny Rubinstein notes that Prime Minister Sharon decided to leave Gaza only after anti-Israel carnage there had escalated. "Even if these attacks were not the reason why Sharon came up with the idea of disengagement, the Palestinians are certain that that is the case, and this has reinforced their belief that Israel only understands the language of terror attacks and violence." Israel National News has collected other leftist comments. A former justice minister and chairman of the Yahad/Meretz Party, Yossi Beilin: "There is a concrete danger that following the disengagement, the violence will greatly increase in the West Bank in order to achieve the same thing as was achieved in Gaza." A former Labor Party foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami: "A unilateral retreat perpetuates Israel's image as a country that runs away under pressure ... In Fatah and Hamas, they will assume that they must prepare for their third intifada - this time in [the West Bank]." A former General Security Service chief, Ami Ayalon: "Retreat without getting anything in return is liable to be interpreted by some of the Palestinians as surrender. ... There is a high chance that shortly after the disengagement, the violence will be renewed." A former air force commander, Eitan Ben-Eliyahu: "There is no chance that the disengagement will guarantee long-term stability. The plan as it stands can only lead to a renewal of terrorism." Events, I predict, will prove Israel's critics totally wrong but they will learn no lessons. Untroubled by facts, they will demand further Israeli withdrawals. Israel's one-car crash is dismally preparing the way for more disasters. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #3 They should have expelled the Arabs in 1967 when the world was still in shock over the 6-day war and they had the moral high ground. If not then they should have done it in 1973. Barring that... Israel should have convinced the settlers to build in East Jerusalem and surrounding areas hoping to tip the demographic balance there a way that was militarilly defensivle and that didn't leave them spread all over the map. They should have built two walls in areas of the west bank and zoned the area in between for industrial parks that might use Arab workers, thus preventing the Arab workers from going into Israel proper every day. They should have walled up Gaza before the Sinai was handed over, and even if Egypt didn't officially accept the strip along with Sinai they should have acted as if they did. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-08-15 15:14 |
| #2 I respect Pipes, and completely agree with the points he is making - but he completely avoids the more compelling argument for Israel doing what they are doing - circling the wagons to keep from getting picked off one by one. It will be easier to retaliate when you don't have to worry about keeping 8,000 hostages safe. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-15 14:49 |
| #1 The arabs should keep in mind that if they want a fight the Israelis could scortch the earth and lay waste to all of palestine. This move has been perverted from a peace gesture to a sign of weakness that hamas is going to use to sieze power and rally the idiots. God save the jews from these animals, I hope they know what they are doing. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-08-15 14:45 |