I have read and heard a lot recently about Israel and the West Bank and how Israeli settlements are a barrier to peace. I wrote that Israel will probably have to give up part of the West Bank to achieve peace.
However, we need to be very clear about one of the core factors in the Middle East debate; the Palestinians and other nations have said that there can be no peace until Israel moves back to her pre-1967 borders. No Palestinian, Syrian, Egyptian, Iraqi, or any of the other hostile nations in Israeli’s region have ever said that there would be peace if Israel moved back to her pre-1967 borders.
Moving back behind those borders might be a starting point for Israel’s enemies to talk about lasting peace. Than again, it might not be, depending on????
Once you consider that at best, moving behind the pre-1967 borders might lead to peace talks, and you ask yourself why those nations that lost land in the Six Day War of 1967 wanted to launch that war if those borders were acceptable, you begin to see Israel’s position and why moving behind the pre-1967 borders means so little to many Israelis –
Because it means nothing to the people saying it.
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But it was Israel that launched the surprise attacks of 1967. The attacks were so successful that they became a watershed in aerial bombing and simultaneous multiple target strikes. It is was it is. The very fact of Israel’s blitzkrieg success is why it’s known as the Six DAY War and not anything else.
Correction: I meant to say “It is what it is.”
One more comment: the real problem is, ultimately, not borders, pre-1967 or otherwise. Yes, they really do matter now, even more than ever. But that never would have been the issue 42 years if Israel had taken a very different approach on what to do with the people that they came to be masters of. Can you Imagine if West Bank and Gaza citizens would have had the same opportunity to be Israeli citizens like the Arabs and other non-Jewish citizens in Israel’s minority communities? If that would have been the aim in the late 60′s, I think at least a few things would have been very different. It probably wouldn’t have Black September and what happened in Munich in 1972, nor would it have changed the Lebanese Civil war, the bombings of the Sabra and Shatila communities and the existence of Amal. But it would have made all the difference in the world for the support of the PLO in the West Bank. And Hamas (and probably Hesbollah too!) would never have even existed.
“No Palestinian, Syrian, Egyptian, Iraqi, or any of the other hostile nations in Israeli’s region have ever said that there would be peace if Israel moved back to her pre-1967 borders. ”
Incorrect. The Arab Peace Initiative did just that in March 2002.
President Obama has embraced it. You should probably study it to prevent yourself from writing incorrect nonsense in the future.
Try UN resolutions 194, 242 and 338 also. Israel is horribly wrong. It has illegally transferred hundreds of thousands of its citizens onto territory it will never own outside of its borders.
They must go home. Back inside Israel where they belong. Not strealing land and water where they do not belong.
In spite of what “J” Carter or “B” Obamba may say or do, nothing will ever change there unless one side thoroughly defeats the other . Until that happens, there will always be rocket attacks from the “pillistinians” (arafatspeak) and incursions into Gaza from Israel to try and daintily remove “insurgents” hiding among civilians. But nothing permanent or long lasting is ever accomplished, only continued hostilities and tragedy.
Unfortunately, for the Israelis, they have become victims of their own domestic brand of “political correctness”, dictated to them by “world” opinion out of the anti-Semitic European Union. So the cycle of stupidity and violence will continue endlessly, not matter what our peace prize candidate or the peanut farmer may say or do..
Carter has the credentials among Moslems to take a stand for real peace. He could stand in front of the Palestinian people and demand they seek peace on behalf of their children.
To take an action like that would justify acceptance of his apology. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Mr. Carter has the character; the honor, to take this noble stand.
I saw this comment on another Carter post
Ghost of Ronald Reagan December 27, 2009 at 7:04 pm
When Carter takes a firm stand against Hamas/PLO/Al Oxqua Martyrs Brigade Palestinian terrorists, criticizes their actions harshly on a consistent basis, then and only then should we even consider forgiveness. In other words, a complete about face in his views and attitudes. Not much chance of that, so no forgiveness for you, Carter…
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