Peace - The Only Way Forward

[RainWalker]

Big article that's very indepth.

The Only Way Forward

Gift article [link:https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/25/opinion/israel-gaza-peace-ceasefire.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BE0.fg1t.IO_xD7qqV6oQ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare|]

It is said that wars end when both sides conclude they have nothing more to gain by fighting. By that logic, Israel and the Palestinians should have long ago agreed to the only solution that makes sense: separate states side by side. They’ve tried, again and again, but in this cauldron of religious passion and competing grievances, peace has always lost out. Is there any chance that things will be different when the guns fall silent this time?

On the face of it, it does not seem promising. The brutal attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 and the massive Israeli retaliatory assault on Gaza have already led to too much death and destruction and have ignited communal hatreds in the United States and beyond. Every eruption in the past — whether war, intifada or military raid — has only demonstrated that neither side can achieve its longed-for security, dignity or peace through violence. On the contrary, every eruption only hardens divisions and ensures more bloodshed next time.

In fact, what peace might look like is not a mystery: The shape of a Palestinian state has been explored in minute detail by successive peace conferences, meetings, negotiations and private initiatives, collectively known — or derided, in their apparent futility — as the peace process. The Oslo Accords of the 1990s were a major breakthrough in bringing hardened Palestinian and Israeli commanders to the table and establishing basic principles of coexistence. In 2000, Ehud Barak, Israel’s prime minister at the time, put a significant offer on the table to the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat for a two-state solution, which he rejected as insufficient and failed to meet with any serious counteroffer. Several years later, Mr. Barak’s successor Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, met 36 times over nearly two years to hammer out a detailed plan that involved swapping some land, sharing Jerusalem, creating a free passage between the West Bank and Gaza and cooperating on business and resources.

That initiative foundered, as they all did, through violence, politics and circumstance: the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a clash with Hamas in Gaza, Mr. Olmert’s resignation and Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory, the ouster of the Palestinian Authority from Gaza. Extremists — be it Palestinian Islamists determined to destroy the Jewish state or Israeli settlers determined to push Palestinians out of the West Bank — knew they could undermine any effort toward peace through provocation or terrorism.

[CincyDem]

1. Worthwhile read with a lot of good history and perspective that all boils down to a single sentence...

"The critical qualification is for each side to understand the yearnings and fears of the other and to accept that the other has a right to live in peace."

[Frasier Balzov]

2. Islam won't permit peace without submission.

Lands once claimed in the name of Allah cannot not be relinquished back to the infidel.

And Jews are as infidel as they come because of their unforgivable intransigence during the time of the Prophet's revelation.

Secular solutions offered today are as meaningless as they are well-intentioned.

The only real choice is the survival or destruction of Israel, which is to say the defeat or triumph of Islam concerning custodianship of the Holy Land.

In my opinion, Jews are clearly the best choice to serve as custodians of the Holy Land for the enjoyment of all faiths.

Muslins should take a chill pill and honor the Jewish sanctuary long sought by their Abrahamic brothers and sisters.

The foolish rancor of Muslims is the source of all these troubles.

[RainWalker]

3. I think

Your comments here

Muslins should take a chill pill and honor the Jewish sanctuary long sought by their Abrahamic brothers and sisters.

are interesting. It's not Israeli's who are being oppressed but rather the Palestinian people. Why should they take a chill pill when they have been exploited and oppressed for decades by people who see them as less than they are?

[Frasier Balzov]

4. Headscarves on the women say everything about

who is oppressing them.

[RainWalker]

5. Really?

You don't think Israel oppresses Palestinian people?

[Frasier Balzov]

6. It is a burden to Israel to police and restrict this population.

Israel would prefer to be able to trust Palestinians and live side-by-side in a peaceful, prosperous, nurturing society.

Unfortunately, Islam rejects any such conciliation.

[RainWalker]

7. I think there's factions within Islam who do

The Palestinian Authority does recognize Israel and supports a 2 state solution. Maybe the country needs a Mason-Dixon line of sorts. What gets me is Israel controls all of the water into Palestine and flies noisy drones 24-7 overhead. How about just treating them like how we treat Mexico?

[TexasTowelie]

8. Does the plural of "Israeli" have an apostrophe? nt