Reasonable people can disagree about the Gaza
evacuation. Reasonably people should be
disagreeing about the Gaza evacuation. Anyone who
insists that they’re absolutely certain in this
matter – that there is no compelling argument on
the other side – is either crazy, ignorant, or
fooling themselves.
The evacuation is necessary. It is
necessary as a preemptive move, good only
because it prevents the long-term disintegration
of the Jewish State. Without it, a horrifying
future becomes inevitable – real apartheid (not
the civil control which the Palestinians enjoyed
and which their shills in the international
community had the nerve to compare to the horrors
of South African apartheid), followed eventually by a
one-state solution in which Jews would be a
minority. And if we don’t trust a future
Palestinian state not to kill the Jews in Gaza
when the most
powerful military in the Middle East would have their
back (and we don’t), imagine the world in which the Jewish state
no longer exists to protect Jews between the
Jordan and the Mediterranean.
But people should be walking into this with
eyes wide-open. For instance, this is
silly:
Labor Party leader Shimon Peres… asked MKs
if there is anyone who believes that it would have
been better to “remain in the Sinai and give up on
the peace with Egypt.”
To try to convince people that withdrawing
from Gaza will actually help Israel in the
short-term is a loser. First of all, now might not
be the best time to be running
peace with Egypt as a selling point. And even
when they’re not killing Israelis and then
them die, Arab nations
have a great record with the whole
“normalization” thing.
But even if they did – come on. We’re not
talking about Egypt or Jordan here. We’re talking
about
people:
On a children’s program discussing the
importance of trees, “Tarabisho” – the Talking
Chick — was the center of the discussion. The
child moderator asked the talking chick what he
would do if someone, specifically a “little boy,”
were to chop down his tree. In his squeaky little
voice, Tarabisho answered: “I’ll fight him and
make a big riot, I’ll call the whole world and
make a riot. I’ll bring AK-47s [assault rifles]
and the whole world, I’ll commit a massacre in
front of the house”. [PA TV: Oct. 22, 2004]
People should recognize that Sharon’s plan
isn’t any sort of panacea. Quite the opposite – it
is wildly divisive, risking the stability of the
government and the cohesion of the nation. And
even if Israel was united behind Sharon, it still
wouldn’t change anything on the ground. Post
withdrawal, the Palestinians will keep attacking
Israel, Iran will keep nuclearizing, and Europe
will keep trying to isolate Israel. Evacuation is
necessary, but there’s no reason we should be
happy about it.
