-- Since the start of the “Oslo” peace process in 1993, Israel has relinquished large swaths of its biblical heartland and transferred control over the lives of some 98 percent of Palestinian Arabs to the PLO-controlled Palestinian Authority.
During that same time, the PA has categorically failed to fulfill its primary obligation – repeated in every subsequent agreement – to disarm and dismantle the anti-Jewish “Palestinian” terrorist infrastructure. --
R-E-P-E-A-T-E-D F-A-I-L-U-R-E
And it's going to succeed this time because???
If this brilliant woman doesn't get it, if left siding Israelis who have lived through 1993 don't get it, what chance do we stand?
The disengagement plan of Israel is a one-sided determination of what will be the border between Israel and Palestine. The idea that Israel would have pockets of Israelis within Patestine is untenable without a cooperative partner. Similarly, the idea that Palestine would have two roadways through Israeli connecting its two parts is not going to happen if Palestine isn't cooperative. There are really one major and one minor problem left to a unilaterally-imposed final settlement. The minor problem is rationalizing the border along the green line for most of the way, then erecting an imprenetrable fence and controlling the border. The major problem is east Jerusalem and maybe even the eastern suburbs of Jersalem. I believe a majority of the residents there would prefer incorporation into Israel. But, however little or much of east Jerusalem is incorporated, the Dome of the Rock is going to be in Isreal, and closing the border between Israel and Palestine is going to be a major problem. This major probelm is why the Oslo Accords imagined that there might be a relatively open border between the two countries, including the possibilities of Jewish enclaves within Palestine, or two roads connecting Gaza and the West Bank going through Isreal, and an open Jerusalem. But, even after a generation has passed, this kind of final settlement is still impossible.
Does anyone know...are Condi's comments serious?? If so, what planet is she from. It seems there is a thread of naivete that runs thru the Bush Administration that you would only expect to find in the democrat party.
I don't know if it will work, but I think it's the only thing outside of outright war that will.
There are no Palestinians, who will bargain in good faith and are powerful enough to keep their promises. So negotiation is not a realistic option. War is always an option, but it's not really a preferred one.
Sharon is telling the Palestinians, "You want your own country? Here it is, borders and all. Make of it what you will."
If it works, as opposed to Oslo, it will be because it was done by a man who is more interested in Israeli security than world opinion or Nobel prizes. If it is successful, it will be for the same reason Nixon could go to China, Begin could make peace with Sadat, and Reagan could talk with Gorbachev -- because no one doubted their commitment to national security.
It may not work. But it's the only remaining chance for peace.
I perceive the repetition of a failed strategy looming also, and it is very disappointing. Unless the Arab leaders of neighboring States begin to weigh in, the instability will persist, requiring a major military conflict to resolve the tensions and establish a new set of facts on the ground.