Lakewood The Thinking City

ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS –
QUESTIONS WE NEED TO HAVE ANSWERED

 In a contentious meeting of the “Great Decisions” foreign-policy discussion group on March 21, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was aired. The pro-Israeli position was presented at great length, but not everyone was convinced.  In the end, a large proportion of the group could entertain either of two scenarios:

• The Palestinians were inexorably committed to exterminating the state of Israel.  Therefore, the Israelis can do nothing to appease them, and all the Israeli policies – the settlements in the West Bank, the military forays – have been necessary to safeguard Israel’s security.
• Palestinians have suffered under Israeli occupation for decades.  While some of them would like to see Israel disappear and therefore oppose any peace plan (as do some Israelis), most simply want their own nation, and when they support violence it is out of frustration, humiliation and a desire for revenge.

A number of questions came up which would have to be answered before we could decide between the two scenarios.  The most important were:

 What do the Palestinians want:  What proportion of  them are absolutely
committed to Israel’s destruction, and what proportion simply want
independence or even something less?  What are their reactions toward
Israeli policies in the West Bank?

What are the possibilities of investing in West Bank industry?  Does Israel allow such investment?  If so, why hasn’t it occurred – in particular, why haven’t the Saudis invested?

What kind of land (barren or fertile) were the Israeli settlements in the West Bank built on?

What was the nature of Sharon’s visit to el-Aqsa mosque in September 2000?  What role (if any) did it have in initiating Intifada II?

a) We don’t realize what we don’t know until our opinions are tested in debate.
b) The media fail to give us the information we need.  They tell us what’s happening now, but they don’t give us background information we need, as citizens, to make informed and justified decisions.