Close, but no cigar
Reader comment on item: Does Israel Need a Plan?

Submitted by Ray Exley (United States), Feb 3, 2004 at 05:50

I view this authors comments as coming close to the inevitable conclusion, but backing away before being willing to explore that conclusion.

The author approached but did not discuss in detail the fact that violence against Israelis by Arabs always works to the benefit of the current "governments" of Arab countries, and thus they want more not less of this. In fact, if that had been no Israel, the current Arab governments, if they had the intelligence, would have created one.

Israel in its current form meets so many needs of the current Arab governments. The arab governments, through every outlet available to them, blames every problem in ARAB countries on Israel's existence or policies. Thus, while providing some of the worst and most repressive governments to their Arab peoples, these governments blame these same failures on Israel. Israel has become a perfect whipping boy onto which every Arab problem is blamed, including the disappearance of billions of dollars into the Arafat "government" that never benefited the palestinians. And similar disappearances of money in all Arab governments.

The effect of 40 years of propagandising the Arabs, a people with no traditions of independent thought, and with traditions of killing anyone who expresses a different view, has had the predicted result. The arab street, an uneducated mob, has been taught to hate for 50 years, loves to vent their rage with violence upon Israelis, and associates Americans.

Currently the price that the palestinians are paying for the suicide bombings is so low that these are free to the palestinians. They have an over population problem, they do not value individuals the way western tradition does, and the way they organize and use these martyrs, it strengthens Arafat, and diminishs Israeli governments.

To cause them to stop, the price must be raised to where it is too high for both the governments, and for the street. That is why attacking the leaders of Hamas, and the other organizations of arab violence is so important. The other thing to be considered is to pressure the populace. How about shutting off the electricity and water for a week, increasing by a week everytime a bombing occurs... It is relatively non violent, and it puts pressure on everyone. Since all dissident voices have been killed, it will take a while for the new policies to sink in. Personally, I would have preferred killing 100 to one, but I don't think the Israeli government can behave in ways that remind it of the behavior of its opressors, the Nazis. So try to raise the pressure where it needs to be raised.

But don't just sit there and be targets. That just encourages them to bomb more.

Ray Exley

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