Requiem for a referendum

Ha'aretz ^ | 9 February 2005 | Yoel Marcus

[anotherview]

Requiem for a referendum By Yoel Marcus

Yasser Arafat died on November 11, but he was finally buried yesterday at the Sharm summit. At an elegant, focused and businesslike ceremony, the bloody Al-Aqsa intifada, which he sparked, was also interred. A closing celebration would have been preferable to an opening one yesterday.

[...]

There are a considerable number of people who are ready to swear that hair will grow on the palms of their hands before two states living side by side in peace will result from all this talk. No one ever died because he was a pessimist, but neither did anyone die from trying to follow the path of negotiations and painful concessions.

A distant observer of this ceremony might wonder at Sharon's transformation from the most hated, war-mongering man in the world to a man of peace and hope in the eyes of Europe and America.

But more than anything else, he has been transformed in the eyes of the Arabs into the only Israeli leader who can lead to a permanent agreement.

Sharon is the man of the hour. The image of a hesitant foot-dragger has been replaced by a decisive and determined leader, who has resolved to put an end to the anomaly of a state living without borders in a permanent state of war. Never was a leader forced to make such a daring political breakthrough under such harsh domestic conditions, with such great opposition from within his own camp and from all the crazed Greater Israel adherents...

[anotherview]

While I am not nearly so optimistic as Mr. Marcus or the leftists at Ha'aretz I do feel that something which gives hope did happen. I never in a million years thought I'd see Ha'aretz gushing praise for Ariel Sharon. Oh, and no, that doesn't make the Prime Minister wrong. It makes a rare case when Ha'aretz was right.

[7.62 x 51mm]

Abbas is a terrorist just as Arrid-fart was, except that he wears a business suit and is much smarter. Nothing's going to change, sad to say. There will never, never, never be peace in the ME.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Alouette]

neither did anyone die from trying to follow the path of negotiations and painful concessions.

Nobody died since the beginning of the Oslo Accords? Is this guy freaking insane or is he just retarded?

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

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[anotherview]

I remember the same things being said about Sadat. He flew planes for the Nazis. He led Egypt into the Yom Kippur War in 1973. You could never make peace with him.

Is Abbas another Sadat? Maybe not. Maybe you are right. I actually tend to believe you are right. The fact is that neither you nor I know. WE JUST DON'T KNOW.

I remember hearing how we would never have peace with Egypt. We've now had it for 26 years and no Jews are dying fighting Egyptians.

Give this a chance. The Prime Minister will not repeat the mistakes of Oslo and make huge concessions with no reciprocal actions.

[anotherview]

Nobody died since the beginning of the Oslo Accords? Is this guy freaking insane or is he just retarded?

That is not what he said and you know it.

Read my previous post. I don't trust Abbas or the Palestinians at all. We still have to try to make this work. We just need to make sure we really learned from Oslo. No new concessions without recioprocity from the Palestinians. This has been Finance Minister Netanyahu's mantra when talking about negotiations and I happen to believe he is right.

[E Rocc]

While I am not nearly so optimistic as Mr. Marcus or the leftists at Ha'aretz I do feel that something which gives hope did happen. I never in a million years thought I'd see Ha'aretz gushing praise for Ariel Sharon. Oh, and no, that doesn't make the Prime Minister wrong. It makes a rare case when Ha'aretz was right.

Now they are saying that Abbas and Sharon may hold further meetings at Sycamore Ranch within a week. Only Nixon could go to China, only Begin could go to Egypt, and perhaps it takes Sharon to reach out to the Palis.

With Jordan and Egypt sending ambassadors back to Israel, I haven't seen a single thing go wrong with this summit. The hard work, however, is ahead. For both sides.

-Eric

[Nachum]

No one ever died because he was a pessimist, but neither did anyone die from trying to follow the path of negotiations and painful concessions

That is patently false. More people have died since Israel began "negotiating" than after. Since 1967, the left/peacenik crowd in Israel has been delusional.

[E Rocc]

This has been Finance Minister Netanyahu's mantra when talking about negotiations and I happen to believe he is right.

When Netanyahu was PM he had good relations with the Palestinians and extremely good relations with the Jordanians. Speaking of which, perhaps it's time to involve King Abdullah in these talks. The Jordanians could help the PA deal with the remaining rejectionists in ways that the Israelis can't (yet).

-Eric

[Lurking Libertarian]

I remember hearing how we would never have peace with Egypt. We've now had it for 26 years and no Jews are dying fighting Egyptians. Give this a chance. The Prime Minister will not repeat the mistakes of Oslo and make huge concessions with no reciprocal actions.

I am praying that you are right.

[anotherview]

King Abdullah was at the summit. The photo of the King, President Mubarek, Prime Minister Sharon, and Chairman Abbas is on the Ha'aretz page.

Now that we have to excerpt Ha'aretz I am reticent to post all the photos. I do not want to cause trouble for Free Republic.

[E Rocc]

King Abdullah was at the summit. The photo of the King, President Mubarek, Prime Minister Sharon, and Chairman Abbas is on the Ha'aretz page.

I saw that on the other thread. Ooops.

Mubarak and Abdullah being there was important. So is the return of the embassies. If those two hold the line the Palestinian state will surrounded by these three nations. It will have to behave itself. Period.

You know President Bush was there in spirit. This is his agenda becoming ever closer to reality.

-Eric

[7.62 x 51mm]

I hope I'm wrong and you're right, a. Truly I do.

[sheik yerbouty]

what else can you expect from "Am Haaretz"?

[Mind-numbed Robot]

The genius behind this strategy is that by giving the "Palestinians" a fixed piece of geography to call their own, and calling it a "Palestinian State", they then have what they have publicly extolled as their goal. If they then refuse to abide by the rules of civilization they are a country on which a war can be declared, ala Afghanistan and Iraq.

[M 91 u2 K]

We've now had it for 26 years and no Jews are dying fighting Egyptians.

Yea now Jews are dying while Egyptians help smuggle in weapons to the Palies.

Sadat was a clever muslim who figured he could not destory Israel one way he will try another.

Giving up the Sinai was one of the worst decision ever. Had Israel kept the Sinai Israel would have OIL.

Now we have no OIL and Dead Jews.

Thank you peace mongerers!

[sarah_f]

Nobody died since the beginning of the Oslo Accords? Is this guy freaking insane or is he just retarded?

That level of suicidal insanity can *only* be achieved by Israel's left.

[Alouette]

That is not what he said and you know it.

Here is what he said. Read carefully:

neither did anyone die from trying to follow the path of negotiations and painful concessions.

That sure sounds to me as though he is making the claim that nobody has died as a result of the failed negotiations and painful but useless concessions that have been made over the past decade. And if you live on the same planet that I do, you know that over 4000 Israelis have died in terrorist attacks since 1994.

So what the #$%& did this guy mean when he said neither did anyone die from trying to follow the path of negotiations and painful concessions. It's just empty rhetoric and we're all supposed to close our eyes and wake up like Rip Van Winkle and pretend that the last ten years never really happened and that 4000 Israelis didn't really die from trying to follow the path of negotiations and painful concessions.

I'm sorry but after reading that line I just can't get all orgasmic over this latest "peace deal." It's nothing but SSDD.