Probably not, but that would be decided at the table
They went to the table. It was decided, by Israel, that they would get part of the West Bank, split up into 3 segments. A large part would be under "temporary" Israeli occupation, with no dae set for a pullout. The water allocation was to remain as it is now, 70litres a day for Arabs, 350 for Jews.
Maybe it's rhetoric and maybe it's not, but if we don't give the Isreali's a chance at this point, it's going to get much uglier, much bloodier and far more costly for the Palestinians.
It can't get much worse for the Palestinians.
The Israelis are uneasy about the way the Palestinians are being treated as it is. There is an ever growing list of Israelis refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza.
The current situation is so bad, aid organisations are warning of impending famine in towns on the West Bank, due to closures.
There isn't much more Israel can do, short of mass murder, and that won' be acceptable to Israelis or the outside world.
Israel is also in dire financial difficulties, cutting budgets and raising taxes. It's largely caused by the security situation, call up of reservists etc. Things are so bad, next year the defence budget is being cut, despite the security situation.
So your saying Terror is an acceptable form of warfare, or politics?
Is warfare an aceptable form of politics?
During WW1, Germany began sending Zepplins over Britain to bomb London and other towns. There was no pretence at damaging industry, no pretence that the campaign could win the war. It was simply a way of killing British civilians to make hem sick of the war.
There is no difference between that tactic and the current Palestinian tactics.
What has any terrorist group ever accomplished other than killing thousands of innocent people?
Israel was founded by Jewish terrorism. At the point when Britain was restricting Jewish immigration late in WW2, the Jewish terrorist gangs began attacking British targets. They kidnapped British soldiers, held them hostage, then murdered them when their demands were not met. They used carbombs to attack Arab targets, and threw grenades from cars at groups of Arabs.
The leaders of the two largest terrorist groups at the time were Menachim Begin and Yithak Shamir. You may have heard of them during their tenures as Prime Minister of Israel.
Terrorism has worked in a great many conflicts round the world.
But back to your point, my answer can only be that right now the Palestinians could/would sway world opinion if they'd just stop the bombing and come to the table. As I said before, then if Isreal won't play... screw Isreal.
There were negotiations. Israel offered part of the West Bank, but ruled out any right of return, water rights, etc.
Rather than saying screw Israel, people immediately started saying screw the Palestinians, for not taking what they were given.
A way out of this would be for interested countries, other than Israel and the Palestinians, to work out a deal. America, the EU, UN, Jordan and Egypt should work out a peace plan, present it to both sides, and screw whicheer side didnt comply.
Sadly, it won't happen, because no major US politician is prepared to stand up to Israel.
The logic is thier methods. And I humbly disagree that that started the bombings. It may have triggered the bombings THIS time, but as long as the Isreali's are the "Have's" and the Palestinians are the "Have-nots", there will be problems
Perhaps Israel should have tried to make them into Have's during the 25 year military occupation, rather than taking their land and water.
Further, as long as thier are Jews in Isreal (or at least a Jewish State so to speak), Arabs (Islam rather) will consider them targets of opportunity. It's been that way since biblical times, or at least Mohamads time.
As Romeoman said, the Jewish have been treated much better under Arab rule than Christian.
Een as lae as the 18th century, the Spanish insisted on a clause in the treaty that granted Gibraltar to Britain, stipulating that no Arabs or Jews should be allowed to live on the Rock.
The Crusaders massacred most of the Jews in present day Israel, and drove the remainder out. It wasn't until the Arabs reconquered Jerusalem that Jews were allowed back.
IMO that while true, it's still no excuse for thier methods OR thier refusal to allow talks.
It's the Israeli government that is refusing to have talks. In fact, Sharon has gone so far as to say he will not discuss the settlements until after the next Israeli elections, up to 18 months away. Sharon's plans for talks also includes several
years of stages. before settlements are abandoned or a Palestinian state set up.
ya think?
I don't know if Arafat is shrewd enough to recognize a good deal, if one is ever offered. I suspect he is, but it hardly matters. A good deal will be accepted by the Palestinians, and somebody in the Palestinian leadership will use it as a lever to the top. In other words, if a deal is offered that most Palestinians will accept, either Arafat will accept it or someone will stage a coup, replace Arafat, accept the deal and make himself a hero to the Palestinians.
