A practical agenda
In her April 22 op-ed (“Without negotiations, a dangerous status quo”), Debra DeLee makes the statement, “Without a deal on Jerusalem, there will never be peace for Israel.” She could have worded this differently. She could have engaged in measured facts, in history, and in an assessment of comparative claims.
The reason why the United States did not want the issue of Jerusalem to be tabled at the commencement of negotiations was based on an engagement in child psychology. By dealing with the less stringent issues first, it was felt that the parties would become more accommodating as a function of familiarity. However, we now have evidence that the repetition of policies dependent on land for peace has undoubtedly demonstrated that it is totally non-productive.
Has Ms. DeLee:
- studied the Hamas and PLO charters? With a people enacting such hatred, what can possibly be the expectations?
- recognized that no interest was shown in creating yet another Arab state or capital during the time Jordan and Egypt reined over the disputed territories?
- understood that the emergent “Palestinians” are simply a Trojan Horse controlled and supported by Saudi Arabia who have been blessed by a special relationship with the U.S.?
- an awareness that to this day, the Arab world does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state? Further, despite the cold peace extracted from Egypt and Jordan, none of their leaders can be found sitting in the cafes of Jerusalem holding friendly exchanges with their Jewish counterparts. And, as for the generous leadership of Saudi Arabia, should they not have addressed the Knesset by now?
Given the facts, the only land-for-peace solution can be with Israel retaining truly defensible borders while the huge sums of money handed to the Arab peacemakers for munitions are diverted to Arab relocation from the disputed territories to within the vast Arab held lands. This can undoubtedly be done humanely. The greatest evidence of the failure of land-for-peace in its ill-founded methodology is surely Gaza.
Israel has one country and one capital and has enjoyed an existence of being under siege from the day of its contemporary re-establishment. Today, most Israelis have tired of failed policies and understand that they can only give meaning to the Shoa by respecting its victims through embracing the words “never again” as a practical agenda and not mere theory.
Alex Rose
Ashkelon, Israel
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