Submitted by Yonatan Zukowsky(United States), May 7, 2002 at 08:33
It's too bad the Oslo peace effort did not succeed and I believe the main reason for its failure is that it brought about little change of heart in the Palestinian population. While Israel had been hard at work educating its young about the need for peace and co-existence, the Palestinians chose not to move in this direction. Arafat's approach is that of the bandit who declares, "Give me what I want or I'll kill you!" His "peace of the brave" speech is false because the man who mouths it is false. I hope that one day, both Arabs and Jews can together celebrate their respective societies, where each can equally partake in the G-d-given right to think freely, speak freely and work diligently for the betterment of all.
However, I'm in full agreement with Mr. Pipes that going the Arafat route again, is indeed stepping on the gas but missing the destination. If we can in any way hope to succeed, we have to stop lying to ourselves about Arafat. There is no shortage of peace plans that could succeed if there were only a Palestinian leadership that truly desired to make peace with Israel.
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