Posted on 08/27/2006 6:52:39 AM PDT by jdm
Some of those who write to local newspapers try to give the impression that they know the solution to the Middle East conflict because they understand the problem and end up showing how much, in fact, they don't know.
For example, one contributor wrote that Israel pretends to be a democracy when in fact the Arabs have no voting rights. Israeli Arabs do have voting rights and have Arab MKs (Members of the Knesset) representing them in the Israeli parliament to this day. The rest of the Arabs living in Gaza or in the West Bank vote for the PA as in recent elections the majority voted for the terrorist group Hamas.
Another said that Israel is a failed experiment! Whose experiment, may I ask? Are we talking about the same Israel whose drip irrigation technology is being used to water our fields here in Malta, or whose environment-friendly, biological technique we use instead of harmful pesticides? The same Israel where the first cell phone was developed or where Windows 2000XP was programmed? Or where the next generation of Computor (CPU-Central Processing Unit) has already been designed?
A failed experiment would be the attempt to portray Israel as the menace in the Middle East which in itself reflects how some people fail to realise who the real threat to world peace is.
Iran would be the number one on the list: a nation with an income of $45 billion from oil this year alone has money to invest in weapons and supply its proxy Hizbollah with 14,000 rockets but could not rescue its own people when an earthquake hit the country. Statements like "wipe Israel off the map" coming from the President of Iran makes Israelis very nervous, with consequences!
We never hear any condemnation of the Iraqis blowing up each other in Iraq. It seems that Israel has nothing to do with the violence in Iraq, and so we remain silent!
Let Arabs kill Arabs. Who cares, right? I have not heard otherwise. And please don't blame it on the United States, because before the US came into the picture, Iraq invaded Kuwait - another case where Arabs murdered Arabs and displaced thousands.
This is a black and white situation. We do not have to dig too deep to see the core of the conflict. One nation invests in life and the other does the opposite, and the worst part is that we find people who either directly, or in fine powder form, try to justify terrorist acts by stating that suicide bombers blow themselves up because of their poverty and suffering and injustices.
I know a good number of people here in Malta who have difficulties in life just like in any other country (watch the social cases on Tista Tkun Int!) but these people do not go and blow themselves up!
Israel gave peace a chance by withdrawing from Gaza and part of the West Bank. That was a true gesture of extending one's hand in peace. In the eyes of the whole world.
The Palestinians interpreted this as a sign of weakness and instead of thinking how to build a future and a new infrustucture with all the money they are getting from various donors, including the EU, they began to fire Kassam rockets into Israel. There is your peace partner. They weep for sympathy, but at the same time they commit murder.
Look at Dubai, an Arab country that has invested in tourism. Look how that country is flourishing. Cannot the Palestinians learn from them and simply do the same, instead of investing in terrorism, bringing more misery and poverty to their own people and all for nothing? Israel is real and it is staying put. Get over it!
A great Israeli statesman Abba Eban (then ambassador to the UN) summed up the Palestinians as a people who have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. So far he's been proven right.
Bumperoo!
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