- Four Israelis were gunned down, one of them a pregnant woman; seven orphans were made. Hamas held a parade to a cheering crowd. Fatah chief Abbas objected to the interference to his "strategy of peace" by Hamas, not sorrow at the bloodshed. While PM Netanyahu announces that the bloodshed will not deter his path, and the next day, in an apparent effort to encourage Western leaders, Bibi promised to meet with Abbas every two weeks. I feel, however, that the formation of a biweekly social club between Netanyahu and Abbas and occasional guest star Obama, is not a peace process.
- The great Rabbi Ovadia Yosef cursed Abbas and his terrorist cohorts. The State Department labeled that incitement, even though Rabbi Yosef was speaking to God, not encouraging zealots to take action. During the Clinton Administration, Rabbi Yosef united many religious Israelis behind the Clinton sponsored Oslo Accords and was proclaimed a man of peace. Is this how the Clinton State Department returns the favor? ...Is free speech only for those who support our current policy...? Why would a moderate speak this way of Abbas? Maybe there could be a legitimate reason for his angst? Consider the context of PA sponsored violence... As long as the West will encourage a policy of tolerance toward Israel's enemies, perhaps cursing is not the worst option to vent frustration rather than incite it literally, which the Rabbi did not do.
- It was brought up again that Oslo Architect Yossi Beilin had no plan of final resolution. The Road Map for Peace, which is based on Oslo 2, which is based on Oslo 1 which Beilin concocted without a reasonably obtainable goal in sight, is not much more than hot air and mirrors. A two state solution in this conflict is not a solution that can bring peace.
- A recent Poll of Palestinian Arabs had a sobering 78 percent supporting a "greater Palestine" with no state of Israel. A near exact reversal of the numbers reported by AP and friends. How is this poll data being collected and by whom? The bottom line is, there is an indication that the AP data was exaggerated and that the longer that the unobtainable two state solution is brandished as the only alternative to violence, the greater the amount of Palestinians who are at risk of becoming proponents of terror.
The continued path towards the two state precipice is endangering the nation, inciting despair based radicalism in the Palestinian street, repeating the mistakes of history, marginalizing the heroes of yesterday and once again blood soaked the Holy Land this week. Not one sign of the path to true peace.
To use a parable, we see in troubled relationships that if there is zero hope of real change, people generally do not waste time setting up marriage counseling sessions on a biweekly basis. Either they give up hope of an ideal marriage, taking on an attitude of tolerance toward their mate, quit fighting and focus on the other aspects of life, or if they view the marriage as deeply troubled, they quit the relationship entirely.
Fatah refuses to forsake Hamas, which has sworn jihad against the State of Israel, and even if Fatah suggests that it will sever ties with Hamas, it's loyalties to Hamas run too deeply for anything other than a temporary separation from them and their jihad. Long enough to please some politicians, perhaps, but not long enough for true and enduring peace. Can any nation tolerate repeated violence against its citizenry by another nation and call that peace? So what are our leaders doing, and at whose expense?
Western leaders are happy once again that Israel is on the road toward "peace". But it's not the road to true peace. True peace means a reduction to the risk of war in the long term, not amplification of the risk of war. If all these years of negotiations are revealed to be nothing more than a cynical ploy by Fatah, what do you think will happen?
By allowing itself to be beguiled by the Fatah act, the West is setting itself up for feelings of outrage at the subsequent betrayal by Fatah of the Western values it only pretended to hold. Israel will be justified to annihilate their enemies. But is that the way of peace?
The true path to peace is not a "three strikes and you're out (via all-out warfare)" attitude (which the PA mindset allows them to tolerate). Negotiation partners must care more about the lives of their own citizens than achieving jihadist victory by other means for such a tactic to have a meaningful chance of success.
The true path to peace is through establishing at the onset of the peace process that there will be zero tolerance shown to criminals in diplomatic clothing to negotiate on behalf of the people that they themselves oppress far worse than any slander they say about you.
You cannot establish rules with people whom you know will not follow them. So please be careful of the path that you choose.
May God soon help the world to achieve true peace.
