To: 
From: "Vern Humphrey" 
Reply-To: r_catholic-l{at}yahoogroups.com

To: goffscalif{at}aol.com [mailto:goffscalif{at}aol.com]
>
> There is a down side, however.  The State of Israel is a *very*
> small place,
> even taking into account the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and
> the Gaza Strip
> (and I realize that there have been changes in those areas
> already).  It's
> about 150 miles long, and 50 miles wide

True, but you can't change that.  It is a fact of geography, and one that
Israel and all the other nations in the area must understand.

But let's consider this.  Israel has four choices:

1.  Ethnically cleanse the West Bank and Gaza Strip, driving out the
Christian and Muslim Arabs.

2.  Annex the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and keep Christian and Muslim Arabs
in a state of limbo, with no citizenship or rights.

3.  Annex the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and grant citizenship to the
Christian and Muslim Arabs.

4.  Agree to a Palestinian state.

Which should she choose?

Choices 1 and 2 would forever preclude Israel from claiming to be a
democracy.  Choice 3 would give the Arabs near parity at the ballot box,
and a majority in generations to come.

Choice 4 seems to be the only viable option -- and the longer it is put
off, the more difficult it will be to implement and establish regional
peace.

Now, within Choice 4 there is room for negotiation about things like the
Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and so on.  But negotiations without a
committment to the final political outcome are not likely to lead to
success.

>
> I'm not saying that Israel shouldn't give back the occupied lands
> (though I'm
> not saying it should either; every other nation which conquers land has
> historically incorporated it into itself - or I would be living in Mexico
> right now, and would have been born in Mexico),

Let us remember that the Mexicans living there at the time were granted
citizenship.  What you are discussing there is Choice 3.  And that means
ultimately the end of Israel as a Jewish state.

> but reminding us
> all of very
> real security concerns that Israel faces.  Consider that within
> hours of the
> founding of the State of Israel the Arabs attacked.

Actually, there was fighting even earlier than that, even before the end of
the Mandate -- and some of it was offensive operations by Israelis, such as
the attack on Dier Yassan.  BOTH sides were committed to offensive action
from the get-go.


> Consider
> that since 1948
> Israel has fought at least three major wars which Arabs provoked
> and where
> Israel is completely blameless (I'm *not* referring to such barbaric and
> nonsensical things as bulldozing villages to punish one suicide
> bomber) - an
> average of a war every 18 years - and you begin to see why giving
> up occupied
> territory is so painfully difficult for Israelis to accept.
>
In ONE of those wars, the Arab offense was nationalizing the Suez Canal,
which was an act not against Israel but against France and Britain.
>


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