(Hudson Institute New York) Alan M. Dershowitz - The apparently escalating conflict between the U.S. and Israel did not have to occur. It must be resolved now, before it does irreparable harm to prospects for peace. The initial impetus for the brouhaha was an ill-timed announcement that permits had been issued for building 1,600 additional residences in a part of Jerusalem that had been captured by Israel in the 1967 war. The permits were for residences not in east Jerusalem, but rather in north Jerusalem, and not in an Arab section, but rather in an entirely Jewish neighborhood. This neighborhood, Ramat Shlomo, is part of the area that everybody acknowledges will remain part of Israel. In that respect, it is much like the ancient Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, which was illegally captured from the Jewish residents by the Jordanian army in the 1948 war. The Israelis legally recaptured it during the defensive war of 1967. No one in their right mind believes that Israel has any obligation to give up the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, including the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish site in the world, despite the fact that it was recaptured during the 1967 war. As long as Israel exists, there will be Islamic extremists who regard that fact as a provocation. As long the U.S. continues to exist as a secular democracy with equal rights for women, Christians and Jews, the Osama Bin Laden's of the world will seek our destruction. Certainly as long as American troops remain in any part of the Arab world, Muslim fanatics will try to kill our soldiers. Blame for the murder of American troops should be placed on those who kill them, rather than on those who stand for the same values of democracy and equality as America does. The U.S. and Israel are on the same side in the continuing struggle against Islamic extremists who endanger the lives of American troops and American civilians. If Israel's enemies were to lay down their arms and stop terrorist and rocket attacks against Israel, there would be peace. If Israel were to lay down its arms, there would be genocide. When the Palestinian leadership and population want their own state more than they want there not to be a Jewish state, there will be a two-state solution.
2010-04-02 08:20:28Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive