Bush Will Stand By His Friend, Israel

The National Post ^ | April 20, 2004 | George Jonas

[quidnunc]

There are two visions of the Middle East. One is of a Palestinian state built alongside the Jewish state. The other is of a Palestinian state built on the ashes of the Jewish state. Naturally, the two visions are irreconcilable.

The first vision has been held by all recent Israeli administrations and U.S. administrations — left or right, Labour or Likud, Democrat or Republican. It has been held by doves like Ehud Barak and hawks like Ariel Sharon; by liberal U.S. presidents such as Bill Clinton and conservative ones such as George W. Bush. It has been shared by some Arab leaders, notably the late Jordanian ruler King Hussein or the late Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, as well as by many ordinary people around the world who see both Palestinians and Israelis as being entitled to their own countries.

The second vision, a Palestinian state built on the ashes of the Jewish state, has also been shared by many leaders and parties of varying political hues. It has been shared by Arab politicians who were ostensibly participating in the Oslo peace process like the Palestinian Authority's Yasser Arafat, and by those who openly rejected it like the late Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin. It has been shared by Baathist despots like Saddam Hussein or Syria's notorious Assads, father Hafez and son Bashir, and by the fanatics of Islamist theocracy from the Taliban's Sheik Omar to the assorted ayatollahs of Iran. It goes without saying that Osama bin Laden and his followers have adopted the same vision. It's less self-evident and therefore needs saying that the Western left has adopted it as well — not only the far left, the "loony left," the Noam Chomsky left, but newspapers such as Britain's Independent and broadcasters such as the BBC. They would deny it, but the policies they endorse or oppose can lead to no other conclusion.

-snip-

[Warlord David]

I just wish Bush would stand a little closer to Israel and do more to stop the Arabs in their tracks. The way they announce Israel pullout of gaza, was a good start in driving, the arab in the streets, almost mad. Now if Bush can push, the arab in the street, over the top and drive them insane. That would be great! Im sure Israel is ready for the next war.