Hail to the Chief

As I sit here in my pajamas, pigging out on a jar of Nutella and a half eaten loaf of challa, I have mixed emotions about President Bush's visit to Israel. Like many far greater presidents before him, Bush attempts to make one last feeble push for peace in this area of the world. Thanks to former president Clinton, who came the closest to a peace deal back in 99-00, Bush actually has a framework to use. Now, I'm not going to bash Bush in this article. There has never been a bigger supporter of Israel in the White House, than this current leader of the free world. My U.S. domestic concerns can and will be saved for another day; what I worry about is how US foreign policy affects Israel. Bush would love a Camp David legacy like that of Jimmy Carter. Hell, I'd love to see it too. However, there are some major and perhaps insurmountable obstacles to overcome in the Middle East, and in a short 2 page post, I will address and solve the issues at hand. Who needs Condi Rice when you have me?

Yesterday, Bush said he was confident a Palestinian state would exist by the end of 2008. If he knows something we don’t know, which I seriously doubt, he should share his Magic 8 Ball with the rest of the world. The Palestinians may very well want peace, I believe it too, but they're not ready to make peace concessions. I hear Olmert mention painful compromise all the time. We withdrew from Gaza, and now the families of Sedrot live under constant fear of Qassam missile attacks everyday. If that wasn’t a painful sacrifice, talk to the 8,000 residents of Neve Dekalim and Kush Katif who were violently uprooted from their homes by the I.D.F (Israel defense forces) back in Aug of 2005. Soon, we will witness more horrible scenes of Jewish soldiers forcing fellow Jews from their homes in Hevron, Gush Etzion, and Ariel. The Israeli government encouraged Jewish settlement development in the territories gained after the 67 War, and now they want to re-nag on their stance. If Olmert wants to give back parts of Arab- East Jerusalem, than I'm okay with it. Those neighborhoods never felt Israeli and were most definitely not Jewish. What I refuse to live without is Israeli control of the religious sites like the Kotel (Western Wall). There will be hell to pay if Olmert gives up one inch of the Jewish Quarter. The religious Zionist right-wingers, which I do not belong to as I am a moderate who believes in peaceful means of protest, will make what happened to Rabbin look like child's play. I fear for Olmert's life if he dare gives up on Jewish Jerusalem. Regardless, Israelis are used to painful sacrifice either through war or peace negotiations.

What I don’t see are concessions from Hamas who still refuses to acknowledge reality: Israel is a Jewish state, she's here to stay, and we will never go back to the non-defendable borders before June of 1967. I've talked to so many civilians and veterans from the 6 Day War, back in June of 1967, and they said time and time again, "I honestly thought we were going to witness and experience a second Holocaust, 20 years after the first." Hamas, Hezbollah, and the rest of the fundamental Islamic fascists think Israel is just a temporary house guest keeping the fire warm for when the Arabs return. They have never acknowledged the Jewish right to a self-determined homeland, even though the useless United Nations voted and passed such a measure almost 60 years ago. We're not going anywhere. Far more civilized societies like Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan have acknowledged our existence, established diplomatic ties, and created lucrative commerce. How does one deal with a partner who refuses to accept your existence?

Abu Mazan, the President of Fattah and our pathetic, sniffling, powerless partner in peace, can't let go of the Naqba, the great tragedy of 1948, when Israel received statehood. This sorry individual is the only "reasonable" politician Bush and Olmert can negotiate with, but he's confused as well. Palestinians in the West Bank can't return to Israel. This may have been their home at one time, but they have no future here, and Israel will have no future if the Arabs are granted the right to return. Israel will lose its Jewish majority if she’s overrun by 10 and 15 family Arab households. The whole purpose of a modern day Israel is a Jewish run state. If we didn’t have a state to call our own, governed by us, and welcoming Jews from all over the world, than another Shoah, or Holocaust, would always loom on the horizon. NEVER AGAIN. Now, I know it was painful for Palestinians to be forced out of their homes, but the future for Palestinians is a homeland in the West Bank. Both sides should be committed to creating a peacefully two-state solution. As I mentioned previously, the last and greatest chance for a peace deal came in the fading moments of former President Clinton's administration. Former Israeli Prime Minister, and current defense minister, was willing to give back 93% of the West Bank to Yassar Arafat, and it still wasn't enough. Do the Palestinians really want peace? I think they do, but they've never shown it. To hell with Hamas, you can’t rationalize with those lunatics anyway. They'll get what they deserve: Nothing.

There are many losers in this struggle, but who says we can't change the attitude around here? Why can’t all sides get their piece of the pie? In December of 2006, I visited Belfast, Northern Ireland, and there lies a model of peace. What can we as Jews learn from the Protestant, British struggle against the Northern Irish Catholics? We can learn a lot. The answer is the economy, stupid. When people realize there is far more money to be made in peace (just look around Belfast and you can begin to see housing complexes and business beginning to enjoy the Irish economic boom) than there ever was in war, that’s when both sides put down their guns. Life in Gaza is a hell-hole; there is nothing worth living for when you don’t have adequate medical supplies, an educational system, or a functioning economy. Gaza is where most of the suicide bombers, during the intifada (Arabic for uprising) came from, not the West Bank which offered people a much better way of life. If Israel, the E.U., the United States, and even the useless United Nations, want peace, they must isolate Gaza, which Hamas has done for us, and invest, invest, invest in the West Bank. If Fattah and Palestinians want Israel to pull out from beyond the security fence, than Fattah must actively and willingly stop terrorism against Jewish settlers and the state of Israel. It’s a classic example of quid pro quo. If you stop terrorist attacks and give up your unreasonable request to return to your previous homes from over 60 years ago, than we pull out of most, if not all lands east of the barrier fence, and invest in your economy. There lies the true road map to peace. Now, that was simple.

Tomorrow I will have all the answers to the genocide in Darfur and a quick guide to peace in Kosovo.

Shalom Habeit (Shalom in the home)

David