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May 19 , 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 27, 2004 If we act, perhaps the violence could cease in Middle East The Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages on with death and destruction and no apparent end in sight. We're used to seeing this conflict in win-lose terms. Israel gains at Palestinian expense or vice-versa, and meanwhile America is pumping billions of dollars into the Israeli military (enabling Israel to continue its occupation) and looking bad to the rest of the world as a result. What would a fair and just solution be and who would benefit? Israelis would benefit, Palestinians would benefit and Americans would benefit. One major stumbling block to American policy has been fear of criticizing Israel so as not to offend American Jews. This should not be a consideration. Israel is not above the law, and when it acts improperly it should be criticized. The Middle East conflict is about land. Israel wants Palestinian land (West Bank and Gaza) and is trying to expropriate it via settlements. The Palestinians, understandably, don't want to give up their land. (Can you blame them?) The Israeli occupation is designed to protect the settlements and is making life unbearable for the Palestinians, most of whom, like most Israelis, are peaceful, law-abiding people. The Israeli occupation hurts Israel itself in the following ways: Morally - It's wrong to try to steal other people�s land: Remember the Ten Commandments. Strategically - The international community will never recognize a Greater Israel beyond the 1967 borders unless it's a bi-national state. Tactically - The occupation causes deep-seated hatred for Israel in the Palestinian youth tomorrow's leaders. Economically - The Israeli economy is in a shambles due to costly military expenditures and lack of foreign confidence due to unrest and terrorism. Socially - The occupation is tearing Israeli society apart. Internationally, Israel is a pariah nation when its true destiny is to be "a light unto the nations." Another stumbling block is the intense anti-Semitism preached and taught in Arab schools and countries world-wide. This is despicable and should be challenged at every turn. But our immediate concern is our own actions. I was brought up in a Jewish home and I was taught that it's never wrong to do the right thing. Well, it's obvious that the right thing is to end the occupation. But how? Two peace negotiators (one from Israel and one from Palestine) spent the past three years drawing up the "Geneva Accord," which is vaguely similar to the Clinton-Barak plan from 2000 but addresses the issues the Palestinians could not accept in the previous plan. (For instance, it substitutes international monitors for Israeli monitors at check points and boundaries). By all accounts, it's a fair and just solution for both sides. It will not please radical Islamists who want an Islamic state in all of Israel-Palestine, and it won't please radical Israeli settlers who want all of Biblical Israel for their own. But radical groups are not looking for a win-win solution. They're looking for a win-lose solution, and we know from experience that that's doomed to fail. It's time for Americans to act, because it's our tax dollars that allow the Occupation to continue. Call or write Senators Smith and Wyden and Representative Walden and tell them to support the "Geneva Accord." Tell them we're tired of being an enabler to Israel's failed policy of occupation. Tell them the Bush Road Map is well-intentioned but doomed to failure and that only the "Geneva Accord" will work. Tell them we want action! It's never wrong to do the right thing. End the occupation! Gene Robbins Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams