Fundamentalism (General)

by Walter, Monday, November 03, 2008, 13:40 (5660 days ago) @ David Turell

We seem to be a lot closer in our thinking than I thought we were! Thank you for a really interesting post. But I will do the same as you, and go through it point by point. - You cannot say one moment that it will take the Arabs a generation or two to develop democracy, and then say Bush was stupid to ask for democratic elections because the Palestinians voted for Hamas. Democracy in Arab nations should not mean voting for what the Americans want. On the other hand, its clear that if progress is to be made, any democatically elected Palestinian goverment must renounce any intent to wipe out Israel and must be prepared for genuine negotiation. - What you say about emotion makes very good sense. The point I was making though is that political thinking should include human compassion. In fact, I think it should be based on human compassion. That doesn't mean throwing caution to the winds. I've stressed all along that Israel must have safeguards. But it does mean not treating the Arabs as some kind of subspecies. I don't think we disagree on this though. - I really like most of the rest of what you say. I agree that the Palestinians in Gaza and on the West Bank are being used as political pawns. But I think you oversimplify the game when you suggest open emigration to anywhere in the Arab World. The latest UNRWA figures give the number of Palestinian refugees as 4.6 million, and just as its totally unreasonable for the Arab world to expect Israel to give them the "right of return", its unreasonable to ask the Arab countries simply to open their doors. This is a human catastrophe on a vast scale. The only solution I see is for the west and the richer Arab countries (like Saudi Arabia) to pour money into those countries (like Jordan) that have shown themselves willing to accomodate the refugees, and to offer huge inducements to others to do the same, to build up their infrastructure and alleviate the poverty and suffering. Your second, third and fourth steps (the 'great powers' enforcing a peace guarantee, though this would have to work both ways, Israel giving up Gaza and the West Bank and declaring Old Jerusalem an international city) in my view would create a good basis for settlement. I notice you said "most of the West Bank", and obviously there are disputed territories with illegal settlements which will need to be sorted out. But these would not in my view be a sticking point to compare with the refugee problem and the status of Jerusalem.