Iz-Pal

I was planning, in response to an e-mail from Jogo, to write my thoughts on J Street, a project towards which I am broadly sympathetic. Any of you who have any opinions on it, feel free to post in the comments.

In the meantime, via Jogo, the first two parts of an interesting series in the LA Times:
1. Judea Pearl says early Zionists acted in good faith to coexist peacefully with Palestinians. George E. Bisharat replies that all partition efforts before Israel was established in 1948 treated Palestinians unfairly.
2. George E. Bisharat says Jimmy Carter assumed the pragmatist role that the Bush administration refuses to play in relation to Hamas. Judea Pearl sees wishful thinking behind Carter’s actions, as well as a willingness to accept terrorism as a legitimate tactic.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I too consider myself pro-peace but I think peace requires willing partners.

(and superior firepower but that’s for another post…)

Bisharat:

“Hamas' goals, however, are little more than the mirror image of Zionism. Where Hamas seeks an Islamic state, Zionism seeks a Jewish state. Each promotes a vision that privileges one group over another. Both impulses are illegitimate. There is no room in the 21st century for ethno-religious exclusionism as espoused either by Hamas or by Israel.”

When we read in Likud’s platform that Muslims need to be murdered than we can talk of equivalency. Until then, people like Bishara simply display their ignorance by repeating this sort of nonsense. We don’t even need to address the historical inaccuracies.

Popular Posts