Posted on 12/26/2003 11:23:24 AM PST by The Rant
Peace. It is a grand concept and one that every person, organization and nation should strive to achieve. It can only be achieved through mutual respect and the respect for another’s beliefs, even if they are beliefs that one party cannot embrace. It is a simple concept partially based on the phrase, “live and let live.” While the phrase may be dripping in common sense it has consistently been one of the most difficult concepts to place into the realm of reality. Proof of this is in the Middle East situation and especially displayed in the caustic relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
During a visit to Israel for a meeting designed to help re-establish peace talks Egyptian foreign Minister Ahmed Maher encountered the ignorance of intolerance. After negotiations were completed, negotiations that Maher felt moved the parties closer to the goal of at least being able to talk to each other, he went to Al Aksa mosque, one of the holiest sites for both the Islamic and Jewish religions. Here, in a place where one should exhibit an overwhelming sense of respect for things greater than oneself, narcissistic Islamic radicals set upon Maher treating him with little and no respect at all, and in a house of God for both peoples. They heckled him as a traitor and threw their shoes at him, an incredible insult in the Arab world. He escaped with his life but not before members of the Israeli Army came to his aid.
So, here is a man who comes in peace to bring peace to a people who have not known it for decades and what do the Islamists do? They attack him. Once again, the Palestinians, and quite frankly, the radicals, fundamentalists and fanatics of the Arab world, prove their intolerance, their narcissism and their contempt for peace at the expense of having the situation completely to their liking.
It can be said without reservation, especially now that they have set upon the representatives of their our culture who try to bring peace to a savaged land, that the problem here isn’t the terms of any negotiations, it isn’t any boundary drawn on a map, it is the mentality of the fanatic, radical Islamic culture. While the politically correct among us call for tolerance and understanding the fanatical Islamist is taking complete advantage of the “open mindedness” to gather more ground, insert more demands and move closer to achieving their goal of eliminating the “infidel”, the infidel being anyone who does not take Islam as their religion.
Quite frankly, I do not see anything coming out of any peaceful negotiations with any country that allows the existence of fanatical Islam. Chief among these entities is the Palestinian Authority. I say entities because we must include this group even though they have no established and recognized nation. By definition they are a terrorist group but because past leaders of the world have granted them “status” we must now negotiate with those who use terrorism as a tool in a quest to achieve their goal of land dominance and the conquest of a people, namely the Israelis.
It is time for the world’s leaders to hold an end-all-be-all conference on the matter of the relationship between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It is time for this matter to be settled once and for all and it can only be settled when everyone is in agreement. There needs to be dramatic penalties for the use of terror within the region and the sovereignty of the established nations as set forth by the conference should be held in sanctity. Should this agreement be violated the violating party should be greeted with a swift and devastating consequence.
The Arabs are starting to feed on their own. This is a serious and destabilizing development and one that has to be addressed immediately.
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Frank Salvato is a political media consultant, a freelance writer from the Midwest and the Managing Editor for www.TheRant.us . He is a contributing writer to The Washington Dispatch, OpinionEditorials.com and AmericanDaily.com. He has appeared as a guest panelist on The O’Reilly Factor and his pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com and occasionally featured in The Washington Times as well as other national publications.
And a Happy New Year to you too!
On the contrary, the past 10 years have proven that they will get their "state" without doing anything in return so why should they give anything?
Most important, the PA has accepted it's role as the representative of the palestinian people.
They had an election, monitored by Jimmy Carter, and Yasser Arafat was elected President. Jimmy took a pass on his reelection, it was canceled.
And through it all, they've stayed true to their objective, the desturction of Israel. They've faithfully cashed every check sent by the EU, the US and Israel.
They've gratefully accepted arms for their police force provided by the US and Israel (Egypt surreptitiously), as well as training in how to use them.
Arafat's delegations have never stolen towels from the White House, they're not Clintons on an aircraft carrier.
I do not see the possibility of the primitives ever getting a state. I do not understand why people cannot see that the so-called palestinians would ever be willing to stop using terrorism as a political tactic.
They are their own worst enemy, well of their own people, and the status quo there is liking it just fine as those rogues sock away millions and millions of US Dollars (and other currencies) into their own personal bank accounts.
It seems to me that it is indeed always about the money. Terrorism is a big money industry, and the treacherous, murderous, supporters, and perpetrators, will never stop. Negotiating anything with that sorry lot is indeed an effort in futility.
Europe, and certain other Nations (certainly not excluding Arab & Muslim) have a vested interest in maintaining the chaos.
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