A sliver
"Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth!" Attributed to Archimedes
Israel is but a sliver of land on the Mediterranean coast of the Middle East. That a few millions Jews living in their homeland have time and time again defeated the over 1 billion Muslims dedicated to their destruction is considered by many to be a miracle. But, in fact it is nothing more than determination, planning and technology. And also, let's not forget, excellent intelligence, in both meanings of the word.
As shown by the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, a few determined men with a plan can defeat a huge army. This certainly was true for the IDF in 1967, outnumbered ca. 5:1 by the professional armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as Palestinian irregulars, the citizen army of the IDF defeated them easily. The Middle East has never been the same since.
It has become the received wisdom in the West among leftists and liberals that all Israel has to do to achieve peace is to give the Arabs/Palestinians what they want, a freeze of building on the West Bank, remove the security "wall", release all their prisoners (including those found guilty of murder) and all will be well. But, there is no practical or logical basis for this assumption, would you risk your own life and the lives of your children on this gamble.
The fact is that what the Arabs and the Palestinians want is nothing short of Israel's destruction. Giving up the heights along the West Bank ceasefire line would be tantamount to suicide for Israel, when any terrorist with a mortar could shut down Ben Gurion airport as well as hit the densely populated coastal plain. Giving up the heights surrounding Jerusalem would enable any crazy terrorist with a mortar to shut down the Knesset as well as hitting the densely populated Jewish areas of Jerusalem. And this is assuming that the PLO or the Palestinians would keep their agreement, which they have never done before (for example the Oslo Accords or the Camp David Accords).
And yet the Israeli Government is still willing to meet with the Palestinian leadership to negotiate without preconditions. But, the Palestinian leader Pres. Abbas cannot give up his preconditions without giving up all that the Palestinians and the Arabs hold dear. Namely that Israel is an "illegitimate, occupying, colonial power" that deserves to be destoyed, and all the hated Jews with it. Even though they haven't been able to do that yet, nevertheless they still live in hope. This is why the talks in Washington are doomed to fail before they even start.
Israel is but a sliver of land on the Mediterranean coast of the Middle East. That a few millions Jews living in their homeland have time and time again defeated the over 1 billion Muslims dedicated to their destruction is considered by many to be a miracle. But, in fact it is nothing more than determination, planning and technology. And also, let's not forget, excellent intelligence, in both meanings of the word.
As shown by the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, a few determined men with a plan can defeat a huge army. This certainly was true for the IDF in 1967, outnumbered ca. 5:1 by the professional armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, as well as Palestinian irregulars, the citizen army of the IDF defeated them easily. The Middle East has never been the same since.
It has become the received wisdom in the West among leftists and liberals that all Israel has to do to achieve peace is to give the Arabs/Palestinians what they want, a freeze of building on the West Bank, remove the security "wall", release all their prisoners (including those found guilty of murder) and all will be well. But, there is no practical or logical basis for this assumption, would you risk your own life and the lives of your children on this gamble.
The fact is that what the Arabs and the Palestinians want is nothing short of Israel's destruction. Giving up the heights along the West Bank ceasefire line would be tantamount to suicide for Israel, when any terrorist with a mortar could shut down Ben Gurion airport as well as hit the densely populated coastal plain. Giving up the heights surrounding Jerusalem would enable any crazy terrorist with a mortar to shut down the Knesset as well as hitting the densely populated Jewish areas of Jerusalem. And this is assuming that the PLO or the Palestinians would keep their agreement, which they have never done before (for example the Oslo Accords or the Camp David Accords).
And yet the Israeli Government is still willing to meet with the Palestinian leadership to negotiate without preconditions. But, the Palestinian leader Pres. Abbas cannot give up his preconditions without giving up all that the Palestinians and the Arabs hold dear. Namely that Israel is an "illegitimate, occupying, colonial power" that deserves to be destoyed, and all the hated Jews with it. Even though they haven't been able to do that yet, nevertheless they still live in hope. This is why the talks in Washington are doomed to fail before they even start.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:03 AM
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