In your next paragraph you wrote that Israelis will get 80% of former Palestine. I'm more upset about the fact that the Palestinians will get 20% of former Israel! Israel has been the Jewish homeland since God promised it to Abraham. The Jews had sovereignty there as far back as King David. When does the Palestinian claim date from? There was NEVER a Palestinian state in Israel. The Palestinians lived there under the Ottomans or the British until the UN partition plan, when they began to live under Jewish rule. In fact, many Palestinians have recently been quoted in the media as saying they would rather live under Israeli control than Palestinian because of improved economic conditions. There are many Arab states that are perfectly capable of helping Arab refugees. There is only one Jewish homeland.
You argued about security. It seems to me that security means holding on to the strategic strongholds of your country (such as the Golan) and not being dependant on others for necessities such as water.
You are right on one point- it is definately smart for Israel to make peace with her neighbors. But the question is, how can she go about doing that? When Palestinian textbooks still call for the destruction of Israel, when kids dress up as suicide bombers and when a threat of Jihad and terrorism is a means of negotiations, it seems crazy for Israel to be prepared to give up so much. So far, Israel has given up land, and for what? Over 80 Israelis have been killed in by terrorism since Oslo.
On Jerusalem, under Arab rule before 1967, Jews could not pray at the kotel. Under Jewish rule, there is open access to all holy sites to all religions. What international law says that only West Jerusalem is Israel? Besides it being King David's capital, it was conquered in a Defensive war in 1967. No one is denying the Arabs the right to live there, or in any part of Israel, but Jerusalem is and always will be the Jewish people's capital, all of Jerusalem. Not to mention that having no Israeli security forces in the area next to the Jewish holiest site seems almost suicidal.
Your last point...the Palestinians aren't called terrorists when they
defend themselves. When they blow up Israeli busses or city streets, they
are called terrorists. Do you disagree with that definition? I think the
middle east is a unique situation and cannot be compared with other
countries. It has religious, political, and economic factors that must be
taking into consideration that are not mirrored anywhere else. I hope and
pray that there will one day be peace in the Jewish homeland of Israel, a
lasting peace, where both sides will finally have security.
Shira
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