• MY BOOKS
    • 72 Virgins--Synopsis
    • 72 Virgins - Book Reviews
    • 72 Virgins--An Excerpt
    • Book Trailer
    • 72 Virgins - Links to Published Interviews
    • Fundamentals of Voice Quality--Synopsis
    • Funsamentals of Voice Quality Engineering - Book Reviews
    • Special Promotions
  • Buy a Book
  • MY TALK SHOW
  • 6-Day War Remembered on Shalom TV
  • Published Articles
    • Political Blogs
    • Writer's Blog
    • Political Satires
  • My Biography
  • My Life in Pictures
  • Islam
    • Islamic Terrorism
    • Arab-Israeli Conflict
  • Favorite Sites
  • Conjugate Gradient
  • The Lahaka
  • O.J. Simpson's Song
  • My Music
    • Original Music--Password Required
    • My Xmas Jazz
  • Contact
Avi Perry

The Misguided Political Left in Israel

11/1/2010

0 Comments

 
It happened while I was driving in downtown Haifa. They were standing in a busy intersection, all six of them, flashing signs—“For Israel…. Against Occupation.” I wanted to stop and ask them if they understood the contradiction, since Palestinian Arabs refer to Israel-proper as “The Occupation.” Unfortunately, the heavy traffic behind my car made me move on, and the clueless leftists were spared of my attempt to educate them. It would not have mattered anyway, I told myself. These simple-minded folks believe in their mission as if it were their God-given religion.

That evening I was lucky to enjoy supper in the company of a couple of my old Israeli friends. As the conversation evolved we (unintentionally) touched on the subject of my earlier sign-spotting experience. My host agreed with the protesters, “We must separate from the Palestinians,” he claimed. “We should stop the occupation.”

I smiled. I wanted to agree with my friend. I dreaded the notion that the Arabs should become a majority inside the Jewish state. Separation is a noble ideal. Problem is, it’s an ideal; it cannot be presently implemented, not while maintaining state security at the same time. But then, I pressed my friend, asked him to spell out details of his views. “Should Israel reestablish itself to the west of the cease-fire lines of the pre-1967 border (a.k.a. the Green Line)? Should Israel evacuate the Jerusalem neighborhoods, or the large Jewish towns built on grounds absorbed following the six-day-war in 1967? Or should Israel trust the Arabs not to smuggle heavy weapons from the state of Jordan into the West Bank Palestinian towns, then withdraw it’s military from the Jordan valley, transfer control over the border-crossing to the Palestinians.

To my amazement, my friend’s answer to all of the above was a hesitant “No.” He realized that evacuating large neighborhoods in Jerusalem, or large towns immediately across the Green Line was impractical. He realized that recent history in connection with the evacuation of the Gaza/Egypt border allowed Hamas to smuggle heavy arms into Gaza, only to follow by consistent rocket attacks on Israeli towns, and then war—a lesson, a warning for what would happen when the Israeli military ceases control of the Jordan valley. He realized that Israeli Arabs resist joining a Palestinian state controlled by a Palestinian Authority (PA) located in the West Bank, even though their towns are adjacent to the potential border of that potential state. Israeli Arabs prefer their Israeli citizenship, some even buy land outside of what they fear will become a future Palestinian state—a detail affecting the promise of significant territorial exchange between Israel and a future Palestinian state, making it much less practical.

“So what’s the answer?” I kept asking. “How can we stop the occupation?”

“We should keep everything you mentioned,” he answered. “We should leave the rest for the Palestinians.”

My friend did not respond to my comeback. “But this is unacceptable to the PA,” I said. “They will not sign any peace agreement under these conditions. They are not willing to compromise on any inch of land. And that includes “occupied” territory such as major Israeli cities like Tel Aviv, Haifa, Natania, including your home.”

We were interrupted at that point by the wives who realized that the temperature in the room was approaching a boiling point. They changed the subject. Coffee and cake took center stage.

We remained friends.


0 Comments

    Archives

    August 2019
    August 2018
    July 2018
    July 2017
    February 2016
    December 2015
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    September 2009
    January 2008
    October 2007

    Categories

    All
    Abbas
    Abu Mazen
    A Large Mosque Near Wtc Ground Zero
    Al-Jazeera
    American Policy
    American Politics
    Cordoba Mosque
    Debt Ceiling Analogy To The Middle East Peace Process
    Deception
    Dirty Politics
    Egypt
    Erromous Assumptions
    Fatah-Hamas Unity Agreement
    Foreign Policy
    Gaddafi
    Geneva Conventions
    Gilad Shalit
    Hamas
    Hate Armada A.k.a. Gaza-Bound Flotilla
    Ideology
    Iran
    Iran War
    Islam
    Israel
    Israeli Hospitals Treats Palestinians
    Israeli Politics
    Itamar
    Libya
    Mahmud Abbas
    Middle East
    Middle East Peace
    Mideast Us Policy
    Mubarak
    Muslim Brothers
    Netanyahu
    Nuclear
    Nuclear Weapons
    Obama
    Pa
    Palestinian Authority
    Palestinian Authority (PA)
    Peace Process
    Persian Gulf
    Plo
    Political Humor
    Qadhafi
    Religion
    Revolt
    Stealth Jihad
    Suicide Bombing
    Terrorism In New York
    The \"Occupation\"
    The Turks Quest For Human Justice
    Two-state Solution
    Two-state Solution
    Un
    Us Aircraft Carrier
    Us Economy
    War
    War Crimes

Dr. Avi Perry