Negotiations are Useless Against Terrorism
Reader comment on item: What Should Bush Say in Speech Regarding Establishment of Interim Palestinian State?

Submitted by Martin Szakodyn (United States), Jun 28, 2002 at 15:11

Forgive me for my lack of historical knowledge on the Mid-East. Perhaps my opinion is oversimplified or ignorant, but I must say this.

At this point in time it doesn't even matter if the Palestinians deserve an indendent state of their own or not. The fact that the United States and other countries involved are attempting to negotiate with the Palestinians is absurd and harmful to everyone in the long run. By giving in to their requests now, after a prolonged period of attrocious acts of terrorism the Palestinian militants have carried out specifically against Israeli civilians, we are only adding fuel to this fire of terror. If we negotiate now, we will be setting a fatal precedent that will without a doubt haunt us in the future. By getting international attention and support now, the Palestinians will attribute their victory to the reign of terror they've waged in the past 21 months. This will simply replace diplomacy with terror as a superior tool of negotiation and coersion. We, the international community, cannot allow this to happen, for our own sake and the sake of future generations. What's the solution?

As brutal as it sounds, the Palestinian militancy must be crushed to the point when it no longer threatens the security of Israel. There must be a victor in this conflict and it must not be Terror. Only when the Palestinian militants are subdued and terror ends can the negotiations resume. This way, the world will know the futility and the consequences of terrorism.

Martin Szakodyn--
engineering strudent at SIUC

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