Rather than solving the Palestinian problem, this ‘state’ will make things worse: On one side of the border a modern state with a developed economy (Israel), and on the other side a poor protectorate, unable to provide for its citizens, who will remain bitter and frustrated. This is the danger: Any plan leading to an independent Palestinian state west of the Jordan river would only service those who are interested in perpetuating the conflict….
Plaut: I think that the matter has to be stated in clearer language. The Arabs control twenty-two states and territory larger than the continental U.S. stretching from the Atlas mountains to Central Asia. The framers of the road map think that if the Arabs are allowed to set up a twenty-third state inside the ‘occupied territories’ that are themselves the size of Queens, this will make a significant impact on the behavior of Arab Islamofascism and the aggression of the Arab states. Without Queens, war, and with Queens, peace? Come on! Let us stop the doubletalk. There is one and only one use the Arabs have for any ‘Palestinian state’ and that is to serve as a launch pad to attack and destroy Israel….
Spector: Minister Elon’s religiously-based rejectionist ideology is the mirror image of forces in the Arab world that Professor Plaut describes so well. Oslo, a step-by-step process, failed in part because it was hostage to such deeply-held beliefs — a lesson not learned by the authors of the road map.
The bold stroke for President Bush would be to invite Palestinian and Israeli leaders, along with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, to Jerusalem. They should enter the ancient walled city through the Damascus Gate, proceed along the Via Dolorosa and stop at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for prayers, before visiting Judaism’s holiest site, the [Western] Wall. There, they would pray together and perhaps place a note, as is tradition, between the cracks of the ancient stones. The leaders should next proceed to the mosques atop Haram al-Sharif/the Temple Mount for additional prayers. Israeli and Palestinian leaders should be asked to sign a declaration recognizing [each other’s] historical link to the site. The entire ceremony should be televised internationally, including in Hebrew, Farsi and in Arabic throughout the Mideast and Arabian Gulf.
Next, the leaders should travel northward to Tzippori in the Galilee. There, the Sanhedrin — the supreme Jewish body in Roman Palestine — sat for a few years after the destruction of the second temple. It was then called Sepphoris. At the end of the 16th century, notwithstanding Israel’s founding myth that Zionism was the return of a people without a land to a land without a people, it was reborn as the Arab village of Saffuriyya; by 1947, it was home to more than 4,000 people. Through the trees, you can still see its ruins. On the next hilltop, stand the white concrete houses of Tzippori, an Israeli moshav (co-operative settlement) that is today home to many American immigrants. There could be no more fitting location for the leaders to sign a joint declaration in support of two states — one for the Jewish people and one for the Palestinians — within which each could exercise its right to national self-determination. Then, true negotiations over the border between Israel and Palestine could begin. And the United States would have served a vital lesson in tolerance and mutual accommodation to both its friends and enemies in the region.
Elon: I don’t know what kind of movie Mr. Spector is trying to concoct here. It is very romantic and can probably compete with the best that Hollywood can offer, but it is also extremely superficial. Mr. Spector follows the mistake of many people with goodwill, who think that what we have here is some trivial conflict between two peoples. He believes that once they decide to kiss and make up, years of conflict will miraculously evaporate. These well meaning people are forgetting the main, basic issues. The basic question is simple: Has the Arab World accepted the existence of Israel as a Jewish state?….
