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

To: goffscalif{at}aol.com [mailto:goffscalif{at}aol.com]
>
> > That is correct.  The Palestinians want to determine their own
> destiny, and
> > the Israelis want the same.  They can only do that if they both
> have states.
>
> It occurs to me that Israel could take the moral high ground very
> easily.  It
> could "grant the Palestinians their independence," IOW help them
> set up their
> state, and then stand back with one warning: You have your nation
> now.  And
> we will treat you like a nation - meaning that if you commit any
> act of war
> against us, we will show you war.

That would be one approach -- the problem is, it would have to be a REAL,
sincere approach.  They couldn't leave the settlements in place and claim
the offer was in any way REAL.
>
> At that moment, any suicide bomber, anyone who fires rockets into
> a kibbutz,
> anyone who in any way continues to attack Israel, is de facto
> asking Israel to
> conquer the new Palestinian state.

And that would put them right back where they started.

What are they to do with this newly-conquered Palestine?

1.  Expel the Palestinians.  That's ethnic cleansing, and they would lose
the moral high ground forever.

2.  Hold them in subjugation forever.  That's not democracy.

3.  Grant them citizenship.  That would end the concept of a Jewish state
in a few generations.

> There are, of course,
> fanatics who will
> settle for nothing less than the destruction of Israel and who
> really care
> nothing about any Palestinian state, but with that one stroke
> Israel would put
> them on the outside of Palestinian life, and they'd be as
> anathema to all sane
> Palestinians as they are now to Israelis.
>
> Unfortunately, I don't expect Israel to do any such thing, anymore than I
> expect the Palestinians to shame Israel with passive resistance.
>
Which is the other side of the coin -- they could use non-violent
resistance, or less-than-lethal resistance, and win the moral war, assuming
Israel continues her policies of using snipers to shoot stone-throwers and
so on.

A man from Mars, looking at the situation and trying to make sense out of
it would be puzzled that either side could easily adopt an approach that
would lead to peace, but neither side will.



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