[Ha'aretz] Raphael Israeli - One of the axioms of the "peace process" is that the settlements are "an obstacle to peace." It's well known, however, that before 1967 there were no settlements, and no peace. The Arabs are bothered by Jewish settlement in Israel in general. It's enough to browse through the books of the "moderate" Palestinian Authority to see that Haifa, Jaffa and even Tel Aviv are considered Palestinian cities, while Hamas believes all Palestine should be expropriated from the Jewish state, which doesn't have the right to land on either side of the "green line." Only Jewish settlement activity can be enough of an incentive to make the Arabs, like Sadat, hurry up and seek peace, because their losses will multiply the longer they wait. The author is a professor of Islamic, Middle Eastern and Chinese history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2009-09-08 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive