Israeli government must share some culpability.

Submitted by Tim Das (Ireland), Sep 15, 2003 at 09:28

Dr. Pipes,

while I tend to agree with you on most counts, I find your Oslo analysis and next-steps to be quite one-sided (which is rare in light of your previous writings).

I think we can all agree that the last thing Arafat and groups like Hamas want is peace, but should the Israeli government not share the culpability in provoking the outbreak of the Intifada? Surely you can't suggest that the granting of concessions alone has spurred an entire group of people to rise up and sacrifice their children in the homocide-bombings of Israeli citizens.

Where's the justification in continuing to build and expand settlements in the occupied territories while an overwhelming majority of Israelis are in favour of dismantling the existing settlements?

What about the perversion of democracy which sees the Israeli government consistently subservient to a tiny faction of rabid religious zealots whose seats hold the balance of power for coalition-governments?

How about the (well-deserved) assassinations of Palestinian-militant targets with blunt collateral force in the middle of markets crowded with women and children?

Sure, the arabs may only understand power, but the callous and indescriminate weilding of power seems to breed the next generation of Palestinian terrorists just as quickly as the granting of concessions.

tim

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