Kanad and Darwin Barrett - my opinion
Reader comment on item: Expert predicts more violence in Gaza
in response to reader comment: One & Only Solution to Arab-Israel Problem

Submitted by Mohammed Saleem Akhtar (United States), Oct 1, 2005 at 17:39

I agree with what most of Kanad's views. Belonging to a non-arab muslim country, I look at the situation in the Israel-Arab conflict very differently (compared with Arabs). The solution so eloquently described by Kanad is of course the 'ideal' solution for Israelis. But let's not forget that in this world, at least in my humble opinion, idealism just doesnt exist. Fact on the ground is that Israelis will always have a border with big Arab countries. So the best security and long-term planning for Israel lies in changing these Arab nations.

Let me clarify a few things..

- Israel has, is and will always exist. Everyone in this world knows that and has accepted it consciously or subconsciously. The dispute at least the way I see it, is on sharing land, not existence. If hamas tries in anyway to harm the land of Israel, non-arab muslim countries should volunteer to destroy hamas.

- Hamas, Al-aqsa, hizbolla, etc etc dont reflect the opinion of majority of muslims, especially non-arab muslims.

- Non-arab muslims look at this dispute as a political land dispute between Israelis and Arabs, not as a religious dispute.

- The talks of khilafat or a grand muslim state is completely idealistic (again), and at least in my humble opinion, impossible. There are too many differences between muslims.. race, different types of islams (reformed vs orthodox, sufism, shafism, shiaism, sunnism.. etc). I guess khilafat or combined islam is a thinking of the wahabists, but lets not forget that wahabists are a minority in Islam and they are shrinking. Most turks, indian muslims, pakistanis, indonesians are not wahabists. Iran, finally, is a shia nation. It will never form an coalition with wahabists because it has a direct clash with them.

So, at least I look at the Arab-Israeli conflict as a dispute betweeen two middle-eastern nations. They have to find some way to respect each other and understand each other. Most non-arab muslims support the Arabs because of the political polarization that has intensified over the past 50 years or so. However the cure to all these issues is globalization.

That was my 2 cents.. I do hope best for all Israelis and condemn the insane, evil and suicide bombings by hamas, al-aqsa, hizbollah and islamic jihad on Israeli citizens. These are terrorist organizations that must be eliminated (and in fact arabs must help in eradicating them). Egypt and jordan must take a lead in this and help Israel eliminate these terror organizations.

Finally, if the Arabs are not willing to help Israel, then Gaza can be the palestine and the other palestinians in west bank can simply migrate to Jordan or Egypt (for eg $ 100,000 per family). Israel can then take complete control of the West bank.

Any way that was my 2 cents...
Shalom and regards.

MS Akhtar

---

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 for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.