69 million page views

Can you "defeat" an idea?

Reader comment on item: Should Israel Invade Gaza?

Submitted by Yoel Ben-Avraham, Sep 24, 2019 at 03:56

As someone who was 'forced' by circumstances to actively defend my country Israel, and who has four sons, all of which also have had to defend Israel actively - I would love to believe that "victory" is possible. Having lived in direct day-to-day contact with Arabs, especially Muslims, almost fifty years now, I question whether "defeat" is even possible. The root of the opposition to Israel's existence is so deeply connected to religious and cultural beliefs, to acquiesce to Israel's existence would require nothing less than a repudiation of the collective identity of the peoples who live here in the Middle East.
I know that Dr. Pipes sees some form of moderate Islam as the eventual solution. It is possible. My fear is that in a homogeneous society like the countries of the Middle East, any outward signs of moderation will quickly end in the deaths of those who espouse them.

Submitting....

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".

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2023 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)