Is the problem that Arabs might have to breathe the same air as Jews? Or is it only the land they cannot share? What exactly is it about Jewish life they cannot live with, or even near?
Could they share water with us? The shade of a tree? Would it be okay if Jews prayed under the same sun and clouds, or slept under the same stars as Arab Muslims? What's the radius? How close to a Jew are they willing to live, or rather, how far away do we have to be in order for them to call it peace?
It seems to me that any "peace agreement" would imply some level of coexistence. I'd like to ask the Palestinian "negotiators" about the extent of their willingness to coexist with Jews. What would it look like? If Jews shouldn't live in the house next door, could they live on the same street? And if Arabs can't tolerate Jews on their street, could Jews live on the next street over? In the next town? How about in a few trailers on a hilltop here and there?
Then again maybe it's not space, but numbers. I'd like to ask those Israeli leftists that if 40 families should not live in Migron, could 30 families live there? How about four couples with no children? Two Jews and a goat? No, I know, there is an unquestioned and unquestionable idea that it has to be no Jews whatsoever. None. Not one.
The sun comes up in the east and Arabs require any territory under their control to be totally Jew-free. It is a given. The Sinai had to be rendered Jew-free before Egypt would accept it in the late 70s, and Gaza had to be Jew-free before the Palestinians would accept it in 2005. Is that not the most abhorrent sort of bigotry?
I can't think of any places on earth, other than Arab countries, that are necessarily off-limits to anyone. There are no Black-free zones, no Pole-free zones, no square foot on the earth where a Canadian or a Parisian or a Bangladeshi or a Catholic cannot go based on who they are. So why does everyone think it's so okay, even so great, that a place... any place... would be officially Jew-free?
It sure doesn't feel like peace now, knowing that I would be arrested by Israelis -or lynched by Palestinians- if I were to simply walk into the Gaza strip.
This Peace business is the biggest lie of our times. If we could all just call it what it really is... Sheer Hatred ... it would be a lot more honest. Then we could have the hate process, a hate deal, hate activists (from Hate Now), teams of officials negotiating the hate, and even concessions for hate. It would make so much more sense.
And if I could get answers to some of my questions about peace hate, that would be good too.
NOTE: This post is an excerpt from BtB archives, Jan. 2008.
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