Lets Not Get Silly Here
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 just 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 the peace with Egypt as a selling point. And even when they're not killing Israelis and then letting them die, Arab nations don't 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 these 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.
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 just 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 the peace with Egypt as a selling point. And even when they're not killing Israelis and then letting them die, Arab nations don't 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 these 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.
