Posted on 05/20/2004 6:36:05 AM PDT by Gforce11
Life in Israel: Yossi Klein Halevi
The news from Israel has become so depressingly familiar, it could almost be written in a template. A suicide bomber detonates him or herself in an Israeli town; the Israeli army moves into the West Bank; each side blames the other for the violence. The cycle repeats itself - again and again and again - with the only differences being the time, date and place of the next bombing. At the same time, Israelis also consider themselves to be under a different type of siege: Hated by their neighbors, criticized in the world press, and targeted by the U.N. for more hostile resolutions than all other countries combined (countries which include Liberia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Iraq, among others). So how do Israelis cope? Chat with today's guest, Yossi Klein Halevi, about the mood inside Israel.
Yossi Klein Halevi is the Israel correspondent for the New Republic and a senior writer for the Jerusalem Report. He is the author of several books, including At the Entrance To the Gates Of Eden: A Jew's Search for Hope with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land (HarperCollins), now out in paperback.
Missed the chat? Read the transcript below:
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Danville, CA: Yossi - how do the people of Israel view the United States? and Bush? Thank you.
Yossi Klein Halevi: Israelis are among the most passionate pro-Americans you'll find anywhere. There is deep gratitude for America's courage and decency -- qualities that Israelis believe are largely responsible for America standing with Israel today. Bush, too, is very highly regarded, especially after his speech last week on the Middle East, where he essentially reversed the Oslo-era formula of "land for peace" to a new doctrine of "peace for land" -- that is, before Israel offers territory, the Palestinians must prove their readiness to live in peace with a Jewish state.
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New York, NY: Why do you think Israel is losing the PR war in this onslaught?
Yossi Klein Halevi: I'm not sure we are, at least not among Americans, most of whom, I think, understand that Israel is on the front line of the war to insure that terrorism isn't rewarded with political gains. As for Israel's standing in Europe, there I think we're dealing with psychology more than politics -- specifically, the European need to diminish the U.S. by attacking Israel. Finally, siding with the Arabs helps Europe deal with its double moral burden of colonialism and the Holocaust. By siding with the "anti-colonialist" Arabs, Europeans absolve themselves of their colonialist past. And by turning the Jews into the new Nazis, Europe also implicitly diminishes the uniqueness of the Holocaust. If the Jews do "the same thing," then why should Europe keep feeling guilty for the Holocaust? Europe needs to believe the worst about Israel; I think some Europeans were genuinely disappointed when the Jenin "massacre" turned out to be a farce.
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houston,tx: Life is always very simple,but i think israel is complicating things,i only have one question to all those people who support israel,how would you feel if some army came into this country and maintained a curfew,claiming they were routing out terrorists,would you not fight back with anything you got?why do you blame the palestinians for doin the same?another question is that when israelis bomb the palestinians,it is almost as if it is a legal loss of life,yet when palestinians send one suicide bomb,it is considered terrorism,dont you think it is the israelis who are terrorists? Another question is that whenever a peace proposal is made israelis expect there to be a complete stop to palestinian suicide bombings,yet they still maintain a complete presence in palestinian territories expecting them to stomach this?is this a fair deal?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Life is very simple, Houston, so here's how the Middle East conflict has worked. Every time a serious offer for compromise over territory was suggested -- the British-sponsored Peel Commission in 1937, the UN partition plan in 1947, the Clinton Plan in 2000 -- the Jews said yes, the Arab world said no. After each Arab no, there was an Arab-initiated war that broke out. And that was followed by an Israeli victory and an Arab disaster -- followed, in turn, by Arab rage and self-pity. There would be no refugee problem today if the Arabs had accepted partition in 1947 instead of trying to destroy the Jewish state. There would be no occupation of the West Bank if the Arab world hadn't tried to destroy the JEwish state in 1967 (before Israel controlled the territories or dreamed of settlements). And there would be no Israeli roadblocks and invasion today if Arafat had accepted Clinton's proposal. When it comes down to it, it's one self-inflicted Palestinian disaster after another. Simple.
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Boca Raton, FL: What is so different about Palestinian society (compared to the 22 Arab States) that provides any hope they will become the first Arab society to adopt "democratic principles" as the U.S. expects from them?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Paradoxically, the very fact that Palestinians lived under Israeli occupation for 30 plus years exposed them to the workings of a democratic society. I know Palestinian journalists who are deeply envious of the freedom I enjoy as an Israeli journalist. But it's not only intellectuals. A Palestinian guy who was working on rennovations in my apartment last year said to me: "If you can stand in the middle of Jerusalem and call Sharon any name you want, why can't I do that to Arafat? Why are you better than me?" Good question. And I think many Palestinians are asking themselves that same question when they see how Israelis live, in a prosperous democracy, and how they've been impoverished in their little police state. Still, I share some of your skepticism. We have a very long way to go.
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New York, NY: Are we getting close in ousting Arafat so that the peace talks can continue. Personally I feel there will never be peace and Israel must do what it has to do to survive and the H-- with world opinion
Yossi Klein Halevi: There's a debate going on now in the government and the army as to whether it's worth it for Israel to oust Arafat at this point. Sharon has brilliantly succeeded in exposing and cornering Arafat. Now it's up to the Palestinians to either rally around the boss or throw him out. This should be their test, it seems to me. As for the prospects for peace, in the short term I don't believe there is a chance. The problem goes far deeper than Arafat. A recent Palestinian-sponsored poll revealed that 51 percent of Palestinians believe that the goal of the current war should be the destruction of Israel. The hopeful news from that poll is that 42 percent are ready to accept a two-state solution. What that polls tells us, then, is that at this point a majority of Palestinians are not ready to live in peace with Israel, but that a substantial minority exists that is, and I base my hopes for the future on them.
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Philadelphia, PA: Why not ship all of the Palestinians to Jordan and Syria to be with their Arab brothers? Honestly?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Honestly, do you want to turn Israel into the next Serbia?
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Mt. Holly, New Jersey: How can any Israeli criticize the use of terrorism when the State of Israel was created using violence and terrorism?
Yossi Klein Halevi: The Zionist movement was divided into different political and military factions. The minority, right-wing faction did indeed employ terrorism (though they usually targeted the British military and when civilians were killed it was usually accidental). The mainstream center-left military organization, the Hagannah, bitterly opposed terrorism and at one point joined with the British occupiers in hunting down right-wing terrorists. The Hagannah's policy was officially called "restraint." Please show me the Palestinian equivalent.
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Oakland, CA: Do you think Sharon's strategy of targeted killings is an effective tool for promoting peace in the region?
Yossi Klein Halevi: The targeted killings are aimed at those who dispatch young men strapped with explosives (and nails and bolts to maximize the pain) into crowds of civilians. The aim of targeted killings of terrorist masterminds isn't to be an effective tool for promoting peace in the region, but but to keep Israeli citizens from being blown apart.
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Portland, Oregon: Do you approve of the fence being built around the West Bank? Do you think it will provide more security to Israeli public?
Yossi Klein Halevi: I'm wary of fences, which communicate weakness and fear, very dangerous in the Middle East. Besides which, many Palestinians, and especially Palestinian citizens of Israel, will still be living on the Israeli side of the fence. It doesn't sound sensible to me, though I understand the desperation behind the move.
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Boise, Idaho: Confilcts with Isreal in which Isreal receives the criticizim and eventually the agression of the world is fortold in the Bible. Do you think the christians will preceive the current events to potentially be prophecy comming true?
Yossi Klein Halevi: As we say in the Middle East, God is Great.
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Raleigh, NC: If Israel is really serious about peace, couldn't they easily achieve that goal by putting an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Israel initiated the Oslo process (people tend to forget that these days), empowering its arch-enemy Arafat, arming his militias (with the same guns they're now using against us) and lobbying the international community to support the Palestinian-state-in-the-making. Then, at the crucial moment of final negotiations, Israel offers 90 plus percent of the territories (not bad, given the fact that no Palestinian state ever existed) and East Jerusalem -- a previously inconceivable offer. In exchange, we received a two-year terror tantrum.
The peace process was based on the assumption that this is a conflict between two indigenous peoples who each have deep claims over the entire land between the river and the sea, and so the only fair solution is partition. Israel (aside from the hard right) has accepted the moral logic of that; even Sharon today accepts the inevitability of a Palestinian state. On the Palestinian side, though, the official leadership continues to teach Palestinians that all of the land belongs only to them. If you want peace in the Middle East, direct your ire at the rejectionist Palestinian leadership that still doesn't accept the legitimacy of Israel's existence in any territory.
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Los Angeles, California: Hello, why hasnt anyone asked the most pertinent questions in this Isreali/Palestine conflict...like why where the jews banished from Isreal to begin with?, and the most important question, what gave the UN the right, in 1947, to give ythe Palestinians land away? and why cant any of the jews see this point of view? Also, why in 1967 did the US decide to start selling arms and weapons to a jewish state, when they stated in 1959 that they would in fact, NOT sell arms , ever, to a jewish state? thank you sir, JG
Yossi Klein Halevi: Thank you for bringing the issue into its proper focus, which is continued Arab refusal to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state in any borders. The UN didn't have the "right" to give away Palestinian land. That land was claimed by two peoples. Each of us has compelling claims. The fact is, that there have always been Jews living in the land of Israel, even after the exile; we remained throughout history an indigenous people. Another unpleasant fact for Palestinians: There was never a sovereign Palestinian state in any part of the land of Israel/Palestine. Ever. In fact that only people that succeeded in creating a sovereign state in that land in the last 3,000 years have been the Jews. You want to keep arguing over history? No problem. We can argue another 100 years, just as we did for the last 100 years. Neither of us will convince the other. The point of the peace process-- in fact the point of partition going back to the UN in 1947 -- was to replace the past with the future, to give us all a new beginning so that we don't destroy each other with our self-righteousness. I'm ready to accept the legitimacy of a Palestinian state in the land of Israel/Palestine. Is the Arab world ready to accept the legitimacy -- not just the existence, but the legitimacy -- of a Jewish state? If you insist that even the 1947 partition was wrong (and that was a far more generous map for Palestine than is the current Palestinian demand of 1967 borders) what hope is there for peace?
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Mountain View, California: Why don't more Israeli Jews support the concept of "TRANSFER," relocating the Palestinian and Israeli Arabs to other countries? Alternately, why not redesign the Knesset into 2 parts. The lower chamber would include Gentile legislators, but the upper chamber would include ONLY Jews, and only it would legislate on matters of domestic and foreign policy
Yossi Klein Halevi: I'm not interested in Serbia or South Africa.
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Thousand Oaks, CA: Why does Israel have a bad PR Department? You fight amongst your self and air your dirty laundry to the rest of the world to see.E.H
Yossi Klein Halevi: It's true that when Palestinian spokespeople appear on TV, they all seem interchangeable. When is the last time you heard Hanan Ashwari argue with Saeb Erekat? I believe, though, that in the long term Israel's weakness of divisiveness is also its strength: We are self-confident enough and free enough to argue with each other, even in war-time. It's one of the reasons I'm proud to be an Israeli.
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Brooklyn, New York: Why don't you choose a prime minister who wants peace??? Why Israeli's can't understand that as long as there is an ocupation of few milion peaple there will be violance against Israel???
Yossi Klein Halevi: In 1999, we elected a prime minister who wanted peace. His name was Ehud Barak. He put together a government of Labor and the left-wing Meretz, and offered the Palestinians an end to occupation, a sovereign Palestine and part of Jerusalem as their capital. Yaser Arafat's response was suicide bombings and mob lynchings. Arafat didn't declare war against Sharon, who was then head of the opposition, but against the most left-wing government in Israel's history. A government of Yossi Beilin, Yossi Sarid, Shlomo ben-Ami, Shimon Peres -- the men who were ready to offer the Palestinians almost anything for a deal. I thought they understood these things in Brooklyn.
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Honolulu, Hawaii: I live in US for many years and I am european. I'm surprised by the anti-Israel european press. I don't understand why. Although antisemitism in Europe is raising I also remember when I was there that there was also a strong support for the jewish condition too. Can you explain me why this european anti-Israel feeling when compared to America?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Europeans often accuse Americans of being simplistic, but it seems to me that there are no more political simpletons in the world today than European leftists. They reduce a 100-year Middle East conflict to "occupation" -- forgetting that the very reason Israel occupied the territories in 1967 is that the Arab world tried to destroy the Jewish state, and it still hasn't made its peace with Israel's existence.
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Westboro, MA: How is Shimon Peres viewed by the average Israeli? It is amazing that he has not been stripped of all leadership responsibility. Do many of the citizens of Israel blame Peres for his arrogance in helping to legitimize a career terrorist by bringing him back from exile in 1993?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Peres is seen as a pathetic failure who nevertheless had a noble record of service to Israel until the disastrous Oslo process. Yes, many Israelis certainly do blame him for the worst self-inflicted wound Israel ever subjected itself to.
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Paris, France: Good day, How come the Israeli diplomatic establishment is more offensive in its reponse to international criticism, especially with Western countries whose own record in similar cases was much worse? I think in particular about France's record in Algeria, Belgium's in Zaire, Holland's in Indonesia.
Yossi Klein Halevi: The anger against Europe's double standard is certainly growing among Israelis. I think Israel's tolerance level for European criticism is very low these days.
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Bel Air, Maryland: Could Israelis live with a settlement 'imposed' by an international gathering of nations, including the US, and backed up by peacekeeping troops?
Yossi Klein Halevi: In the short term, yes. But what happens after Israel has weakened itself territorially and then American troops are pulled out, as eventually they must be? Israel's policy has always been to insist on defending itself. I'm not sure Israelis would be prepared to give up that sense of self-control over their destiny, especially in a region as unstable as the Middle East.
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mt. View , calif:: What can we as americans do to help stop this stupidity?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Bush has the right idea: no free ride for terrorism. America has tried very hard to reach a sensible compromise, and Israel was ready to go along. Now the onus is on those who rejected America's offer for sovereignty and chose instead a terrorist war.
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east hampton NY: When will Israel deal with the serious threat on the northern border?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Israel is trying to prevent its conflict with the Palestinians from widening into a regional conflict, which is precisely the goal of Hizbollah. So long as Hizbollah's shelling into Israel from Lebanon remains sporadic, and most of all so long as there are no heavy casualties, the policy of restraint continues. One stray shell from Hizbollah that goes wrong and we will find ourselves in a new Middle East.
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san diego california: When Isarael became a state, why didn't Palestine become a state? Can Palestinians be educated to not kill by being forced to learn other subjects such as science, literature, math etc. Today it is too difficult to create a Palestinian State. Why Cann't the Palestinians live under a Jewish State with a democratic government. Everyone in the United States live under a Christian State (Christian Holidays) with a Democratic Government.
Yossi Klein Halevi: Palestinians and Jews have too much mutual rage to want to live together. And each side has national aspirations that somehow need to be accommodated. The question is, when will the Palestinians accept the fact that no solution will meet all their demands, and that Israel is here to stay?
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Houston, TX: If the decision taken by the Israeli government was adopted by Austrian government the jews all over the world will call to denounce it as a racist and antisemite. Since the arabs are semite do you agree that Israeli government is a racist and antisemite?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Israel is a democratic country that debates everything, and the recent proposal that state land should be sold only to Jews has, justifiably, raised a huge outcry here, and that proposal will almost certainly not pass. As for the motive behind the proposal -- which I oppose -- it isn't seen by its promoters as racist but as an act of self-defense, to prevent the Arab world from buying up Israeli territory. Given the fact that we're in a war over territory, that is not an unreasonable fear.
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Kansas City, MO: Why don't you remind people just how happy the Palestinians were after Sept. 11. Weren't they (and the rest of the Arab world) jumping for joy when they learned of the attacks?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Thanks for the necessary reminder.
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cleveland, ohio: How can u.s. citizens help the israeli's? I feel completely helpless! Liora Reznichenko
Yossi Klein Halevi: Thanks for the question. You can help first of all by supporting any of the organizations that help the families of terror victims. There is also a buy Israel campaign underway to help the faltering Israeli economy. Most of all, you can help by continuing to be the best friends Israel or any other country ever had.
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Tuscaloosa, ALA: Do Israeli citizens feel abandoned by their leadership, which continues to fight the war imposed by PLOHAMASISLAMICJIHADFATAHIRANALQAEDAHEZBOLLAH (the alphabet terrorists) with one hand tied behind its back?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Sharon is wildly popular -- up to 70 percent according to some polls. Most people realize he's doing the best he can, trying to maintain the unity government, which is essential for Israel's ability to effectively fight as one nation, and at the same time hit back strongly at the terrorists. I think he's doing a terrific job under impossible circumstances.
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Pittsburgh Pennsylvania: Why is it, in your opinion, does the the rest of the world seem to be intimidated by Islamic countries? I can't believe how many nations condone the actions of terrorists. ps........I'm not Jewish,..but a realist.
Yossi Klein Halevi: There's a readiness to go to any extreme that's coming through a part of the Islamic world that terrifies rational people. Also, I think that many people who speak about terrorism as resulting from Palestinian frustration and Israeli occupation tend to forget two essential points: one, that Israel offered to end the occupation two years ago and was met by a terrorist war, and two, that suicide bombers are the products of a religious education of hatred. There are lots of frustrated and angry peoples in the world; only the Palestinians have produced suicide bombers. The answer isn't in the Israeli roadblocks but in the Palestinian mosques.
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Jackson, MS: Since Jews, which make up such a small proportion of the world population, have made a disproportionately mega contribution to human civilization in so many disciplines/fields, do you believe the current hatred displayed toward Israel, (even after the Holocaust!) is based in human jealousy or is it larger than that and based in the spirit(supernatural) realm?
Yossi Klein Halevi: I find the renewal of Jew-hatred around the world -- especially, as you note, after the Holocaust -- inconceivable. I don't think it's based, this time around, on jealousy. Partly it's based on hatred of America, with which Jews are so strongly identified (especially in the Muslim world). Partly it's based on a false anti-colonialism, which ignores the fact that the Jews are an indigenous people returning home, and not Crusaders. And finally, I think there must be something intangible, call it supernatural, that I don't understand and am afraid to touch.
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Leuven, Belgium: Yossi -What about Nethanyahu ? Is he going to be the next prime minister and will he again prove to be the true leader or are people after 11 of sep. really waiting on Godot ?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Good question. For my part, I'd rather see Sharon in power for the forseeable future. Unlike Netanyahu, who is a divisive leader, Sharon knows how to unite Israel. And we need unity now above all.
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Harrisburg, PA: Many Christians believe that the increasingly tense situation in Israel is fulfillment of Biblical prophecy that the end times are very near. What are your thoughts on this and do the Jewish people still look for the coming of Messiah? Thank you.
Yossi Klein Halevi: I'm a religious Jew, and I believe in the ultimate redemption of humanity. So do many Israeli Jews. Some believe this is the messianic time, others are more cautious. I tend to the cautious side, especially in messianic matters, which tend to rouse dangerous apocalyptic fantasies. I agree that the times look pretty apocalyptic. But I leave these mysteries to God. My job as a religious person is to live the best possible spiritual life I can in these crazy times. And as a citizen of Israel and a resident of Jerusalem, I feel a special responsibility to hold on to religious sanity. If I meet a true prophet someday (and I don't mean that cynically) I may have to reassess. Until then, I'll try to stay as rational as possible, despite the fact that I live at the epicenter of insanity.
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San Jose, CA: What in your opinion has Israel done wrong in this conflict over the last 50 years? What could Israel have done better to achieve peace?
Yossi Klein Halevi: There's much that Israel has done wrong. We ignored the Palestinians in the territories and related to them primarily as cheap labor. We made precious little effort to better their lives (although their standard of living rose tremendously under Israeli occupation,and has now plummeted under Arafat). We failed to understand the Arab world's trauma from its own colonialist past, just as the Arab world failed to understand our historical traumas. I wish we would have done better. What consoles me somewhat is that in the last decade we did try to make amends: We were ready to create a Palestinian state and even to become the first country in history ready to share sovereignty over its capital city. That gives me the sense, in these terrible times, that Israel is in the right. But, along with the Arab world, we certainly have our share of blame in helping to create the conflict.
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: How do Israelis live, under constant threat of life & limb? Also, i recently saw a cnn special of the recent seige @ the church of the nativity. It seemed that Israelis & Palestinians were, at the least,civil to each other when need be. What is the mood between the common citizens of each nationality?
Yossi Klein Halevi: We live very strange lives these days. When it's relatively quiet -- that is, when the army takes the offensive against terrorists -- we feign normalcy and return to some kind of routine, even daring to go downtown and sit in a cafe. But then when we get hit again, we withdraw back into our private refuges.
There still are pockets of Palestinian-Israeli interaction, or at least coexistence. Some parks in Jerusalem where Palestinians and Israelis frequent. But it's getting increasingly rarer. The fear and rage on both sides is creating an abyss between us.
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Augusta, GA: How are the schools/children operating/coping during this time.
Yossi Klein Halevi: During the summer vacation, there are many camps that have stopped functioning because of security fears. Those that are running are all protected by armed guards. We think of it as normal.
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St. Paul, Minnesota: As a supporter of Amnesty International, I have become increasingly disappointed at their posture towards Israel. Do you feel the same? How long has this been going on? Why?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Amnesty recently released a statement that, for the first time, labeled suicide bombings a crime against humanity. On the one hand -- what took you so long to figure that one out? On the other hand -- better late than never.
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Oakland, CA: Why do you think the Christian Right in the United States has recently shown so much solidarity with the state of Israel?
Yossi Klein Halevi: I recently asked that same question to a rabbi who is active in promoting Evangelical-Jewish relations. His answer surprised me. Evangelicals aren't "using" Israel to promote a messianic/apocalyptic agenda, as many Jews fear. They are supporting Israel simply because in Genesis, God tells Abraham that He will bless those who bless his children, and curse those who curse his children. So Evangelicals believe that blessing the Jewish people -- especially after the long history of Christian anti-Semitism -- is a good idea.
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Oakland, CA: What do you think of the settlement movement in the occupied territories? Do you think the Palestinians have a legitimate right to protest these activities?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Settlements take up a total of 1.5 percent of the West Bank. That's it. The settlements issue was nearly solved at the Camp David talks -- Israel offered to uproot settlements in outlying areas and concentrate the rest in small settlement blocs. The issues that made a deal impossible were over Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the refugees. Not the settlements. I think it's a pretext that the Palestinians use. More than that, the settlements are a self-inflicted Palestinian wound: Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967, but not until 1977 did the settlement movement really begin in earnest. Israel waited for 10 years for an Arab partner to discuss the fate of the territories before voting in a right-wing government committed to settlement. One more Palestinian self-inflicted wound.
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arcadia, ca: What can individuals in the United States and elsewhere do to aide and show support for Israel in its war against terrorism?
Yossi Klein Halevi: Write letters to the editor, participate in call-in shows, talk to community and church groups, become knowledgeable about the issues, join the growing campaign to buy Israeli products. And, if you're a praying person, pray for us.
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Cincinnati, Ohio: How do you raise your children with hope and an eye toward the future under your current circumstances?
Yossi Klein Halevi: That's a devastating question. My wife and I believe very strongly in Arab-Jewish coexistence; without it there is no future for us here in the Middle East. But in Jerusalem, at least for now, it's almost impossible to cross that abyss. For us, as for most Israelis, this is a period to get through, endure. No one is thinking about the future; it's too terrifying to think beyond this moment.
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Freiburg, Baden, Germany: When all arguments are boiled down, isn't the real issue about control of East Jerusalem? I do not forsee any diplomatic way to solve this. Control of the "temple mount" must be by one side or the other, and neither side is willing to let the other side have long-term, perpetual, control. Is East Jerusalem Israeli or Palestinian?
Yossi Klein Halevi: The issue isn't East Jerusalem, or at least it wasn't. Ehud Barak offered Arafat control over all East Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods. The issue broke down over the Temple Mount. Barak suggested Arab control over the mount itself, and Israeli control over the area below the mount that is part of the Western Wall complex. Arafat said no and proceded to deny that there had ever been a Jewish temple on the mount and that Jews have any connection to the area.
If it were possible to share Jerusalem with a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state, most Israelis would accept the arrangement. So would I. But for now, "sharing" Jerusalem with Arafat's authority means bringing into this city Hamas, Fatah, Tanzim and all the other murderous militias.
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Jackson, MS: Have you ever wondered why no other people on earth have been through so much as Israel. When you consider the recorded history of such an insignificant people as Israel, it is amazing that you exist. But that is not enough, the world is still trying to exterminate you. I love Israel and it is awful that you still have such a battle to fight just to allow your children to have an opportunity to exist. The way I see it, only God, not the US (which I love), will insure that you continue to not only to exist, but to thrive in spite of unreasonable, angry nations surrounding you. Do you agree or not?
Yossi Klein Halevi: I believe in God, and in His protection of Israel. I see it as a miracle that the Jewish people rose from the dead after the Holocaust and went on to become stronger and more vigorous than ever before in our history. But I don't at all dismiss America's friendship and support. It seems to me that America is God's instrument here for protecting Israel. But I'm supposed to be a journalist, not a theologian.
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Germany: Hello,
as far I paid attention to the Middle East conflict, I see a front "Isrealis" and a front "Palestinians". Both do their very best to make the world shown, how bad and brutal the other side is. What makes it easier for people to blame another persons and pay no thought to his own behavior. It is said, Israel offered the Palestinians land for freedom. So What?? I point my weapon onto you and tell you, take or leave it. Wasn't it this, how it went--land for freedom??
For me, the first step must be taken by the Israelis to halt their settlements withdraw the people form the land, they do not own.
So the suicide bombing stops, do the settlements it as well?
What I would call "courage", Sir, I would say tell Israel to stop its violance against the other side and order the Arafat to everything to halt the suicide bombers. What can a man do, if you broke his arms and legs and you are now telling him he now should do his task as before. With what should Arafat and the authority stop the terror, with prayers?? Rember, Israel has not left anything--offices--stant. So please tell me how a broken man should act??
Yossi Klein Halevi: You start off by talking about "both sides" but your your righteous indignation is clearly reserved for only one side -- the Jews. So let's talk about that; let's at least be honest about where you're at. You want to place all the onus on Israel, presumably because we're the stronger party and the Palestinians are the weaker party. But Israelis look at the map of the Middle East and see 22 nations arrayed against them. So we feel the need to tread carefully in one of the most brutal regions in the world.
You blame Israel for not taking the initiative in ending the conflict. Consider this: For the last 55 years, every time the international community comes up with an offer to end the conflict, the Jews said yes, the Palestinians and the Arab world said no and the result was Palestinian disaster. People like you, I'm afraid, encourage Palestinian intransigence and self-pity by never forcing them to become responsible for their fate.
Classic case in point is how you in Europe continue to absolve Arafat of any responsibility. Poor man: Israel has smashed his offices, left him powerless, so how do we expect him to control terrorism? You conveniently forget some unpleasant facts. Like the fact that it was Israel that saved Arafat from oblivion after the Gulf War and brought him back to the territories. Or the fact that, from day one of the Oslo process, Arafat has been preaching violence and terrorism, teaching Palestinian children to revere suicide bombers (going back to 1996!) -- with no protest at all from Europe. Or the fact that he has been implicated in not just morally encouraging terrorism for the last five years at least but funding terrorism in the last two years (with generous European donations?
So spare me the pity you feel for Arafat. Many of us here feel deep pity for the plight of Palestinians, victims of a criminal Palesitnian regime that encourages parents to send children to blow themselves up in monstrous crimes.
Are you capable of feeling any pity for Arafat's thousands of Jewish victims -- the nearly 600 people killed by terrorism in the last two years, the 5,000 plus wounded, the thousands of families shattered?
Excellent!
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