The right to exist!

Submitted by Rodni E. Chalet (United States), Mar 4, 2009 at 10:02

One of the most fundamental issue of the Middle East conflict is the refusal of Israel's neighbors to recognize its right to exist. No matter how moderate , tolerant and intellectual an Arab person can be: When push comes to shove they can't even fathom, understand or tolerate the Jewish character of Israel.

From my many travels to the Near East, I have been witnessing a gradual hardening of attitude on the Arab side to an unbearable level. On the other hand's Israeli mistrust , racist and oppressive attitude and hatred of the Arabs is equally damning and damaging. In simple terms the moderates on both sides are moving or being dragged toward the "right" because of the vicious nature of the conflict and the unforgiving historical factors that seems to be feeding this vicious cycle of denial, extremism on both sides.

On the one hand how can Ghazans demand economic freedom and the lifting of the restrictions while they lob their missiles at Israeli cities? How can Israel expect the terrorism to stop while its suffocating Millions of hungry and hopeless Ghazans into a nightmarish Ghetto of death and depravation?

There are 4 million Arabs who refuse to be part of Israel and whom Israel refuse to incorporate because doing so will alter the character of the Jewish state. Hence the only solution is a two states solution where both sides should work together and try hard to accept the right of other's to exist?

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".