No peace, no state
This letter appeared in the Jerusalem Post yesterday (Feb 3, 2005).
No peace, no state
Sir, - Surely Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has got it reversed ("Rice: Peace won't be possible without viable Palestinian state," February 2). The formula should be "No peace, no state."
Only when the Palestinians deliver peace and stop terrorism, according to the first step required of them on the road map, can a Palestinian state be envisaged. And it cannot exist unless it lives "side-by-side with Israel in peace."
It is to be hoped that the Secretary of State will not start out on the wrong foot in her message to the new PA administration.
JACK COHEN
Netanya
Comment:
Some people are worried by some of Rice’s statements. While she and Pres. Bush are undoubtedly friends of Israel, they are under enormous pressure to make the current "window of opportunity" a success (shades of Pres. Clinton), both to balance the problems in Iraq as well as to mollify the EU that has made no secret of its pro-Palestinian bias. Since Israel depends so entirely on the US, any pressure from the US is hard for Israel to resist. With the rest of the Quartet, Russia, the EU and UN being pro-Palestinian, there is little that Israel can do. So now that Israel has proposed releasing 900 Palestinian prisoners, the PA has rejected this as insulting! Talk about ungrateful. Also, today 6 IDF soldiers were wounded in 3 separate shooting incidents. Is this the kind of ceasefire that Abbas will propose? A lot depends on how flexible Israel and the US are in relation to the commitments of the PA. If as in the past they say "we won’t let the terrorists prevent us from negotiating" then they will be making the same mistake as under Oslo, when Israelis were being blown up in buses and cafes while the talking went on uselessly. This time around I hope they will be more serious, the message should be, a ceasefire first, and that means NO violence, NO attacks and NO terrorism! Only under those circumstances can serious negotiations take place. If Abbas can't deliver a real ceasefire then there is no point in negotiating with him.
No peace, no state
Sir, - Surely Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has got it reversed ("Rice: Peace won't be possible without viable Palestinian state," February 2). The formula should be "No peace, no state."
Only when the Palestinians deliver peace and stop terrorism, according to the first step required of them on the road map, can a Palestinian state be envisaged. And it cannot exist unless it lives "side-by-side with Israel in peace."
It is to be hoped that the Secretary of State will not start out on the wrong foot in her message to the new PA administration.
JACK COHEN
Netanya
Comment:
Some people are worried by some of Rice’s statements. While she and Pres. Bush are undoubtedly friends of Israel, they are under enormous pressure to make the current "window of opportunity" a success (shades of Pres. Clinton), both to balance the problems in Iraq as well as to mollify the EU that has made no secret of its pro-Palestinian bias. Since Israel depends so entirely on the US, any pressure from the US is hard for Israel to resist. With the rest of the Quartet, Russia, the EU and UN being pro-Palestinian, there is little that Israel can do. So now that Israel has proposed releasing 900 Palestinian prisoners, the PA has rejected this as insulting! Talk about ungrateful. Also, today 6 IDF soldiers were wounded in 3 separate shooting incidents. Is this the kind of ceasefire that Abbas will propose? A lot depends on how flexible Israel and the US are in relation to the commitments of the PA. If as in the past they say "we won’t let the terrorists prevent us from negotiating" then they will be making the same mistake as under Oslo, when Israelis were being blown up in buses and cafes while the talking went on uselessly. This time around I hope they will be more serious, the message should be, a ceasefire first, and that means NO violence, NO attacks and NO terrorism! Only under those circumstances can serious negotiations take place. If Abbas can't deliver a real ceasefire then there is no point in negotiating with him.
posted by Jack Cohen at 4:15 PM
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