Inequalities Between Israel and the Palestinians
July 6th, 2005It is often stressed, especially by the left, that because Israel is the strongest party, it is also the main responsible country in the conflict, and should be the first to make concessions. First, I want to object to the idea that being stronger means automatically being more guilty. It would mean the weaker is always right. Secondly, there are more inequalities between both sides. Below some of these are listed. There are certainly more, so you are welcome to add others.
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The Threat and the Occupation
July 5th, 2005Last week outstanding Israeli journalist Ari Shavit wrote a very interesting article in Haaretz. It started with what is at the heart of the problem:
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is being played out between an occupied nation and a threatened nation. Two elements set this conflict apart from others: the occupation and the threat. No other nation has been subject to a protracted occupation like the Arab-Palestinian nation; no other nation has been subject to an existential threat like the Jewish-Israeli nation. It follows that without concurrent treatment of both the occupation and the threat, no solution will be found to the harsh conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
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Excluding Narratives
June 16th, 2005As I wrote in my previous blog, the truce between Israel and the Palestinians is very shaky and many people on both sides expect that it will not hold. Of course people will blame this on the other side, and journalists and commentators will complain that both parties missed an important opportunity to end the bloody conflict. But what big opportunity exactly they are talking about?
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Disengage From Extremism
June 16th, 2005About 5 months ago Abbas and Sharon agreed to a cease-fire, after 4½ years of bloodshed since the start of the second intifada. Although both sides violated the truce several times, violence decreased considerably, but in recent weeks it flared up and both parties blame this on the other and warn that they are running out of patience. There is a growing concern that violence might increase further after the implementation of the disengagement from Gaza, or even that violence before will prevent disengagement.
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