"In my view, the only way Israel can truly curtail the Hamas rocket threat is if the Palestinians of Gaza demand that the rockets stop. Sure, Israel can inflict enough pain on all of Gaza to get a cease-fire, but it never lasts. The only sustainable way to do it is by Israel partnering with moderate Palestinians in the West Bank to build a thriving state there, so Gaza Palestinians wake up every day and say to the nihilistic Hamas: 'We want what our West Bank cousins have.' The only sustainable controls are those that come from within."
Yeah, right. Unbeknownst to Tom, according to a very recent poll commissioned by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, "55% in the West Bank and 68% in Gaza, reject permanently accepting Israel’s existence and instead suggest their leaders 'work toward reclaiming all of historic Palestine, from the river to the sea'" (see: http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Majority-of-Palestinians-now-oppose-two-state-solution-new-poll-finds-360489).
Israel should partner with moderate Palestinians in the West Bank? Maybe sometime in the next century, when a majority of Palestinians finally get around to accepting Israel's right to exist.
Friedman's stupidity is off the chart. Really, I cannot fathom how you can read this $hit day after day and not get an ulcer.
ReplyDeleteEven if all the Gazans wanted an end to the madness, this is Hamas's show---part and parcel of their acquisition of luxury villas, petrol-profit scam and general self-enrichment. Friedman might be shocked to realize that Hamas counts on high death toll of Gazans. Would be great if Friedman could "quantum leap" into the life of a Gazan for the past few years. I would be giddy to hear his analysis once he emerged back into his journalist's existence.
I wonder how much time either of you has spent in the Middle-East... You seem to know it all.
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Some 35 years.
DeleteBravo Jeff! Hey Mr. Anonymous, why not come out from behind your anonymous cloak... how long have *you* lived in the Middle East? (Pray Tell)
DeleteI, for one, lived for 1 year in Rehovot in 1978 (the single best year of my life I should add -- I lived right next to the Agricultural Minister at the time: Ariel Sharon and was friends with his son), and then again for a summer in Jerusalem while studying at Hebrew University -- some of the best courses frankly I've ever taken in the world(!) (I suppose I should be surprised)
Since 1973, i've lived or visited on and off for a collective total of 4 years but I live here now permanently since 2011. It doesn't matter where you live if you undertake to be an ignorant fool.
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