(Washington Times) Arnaud de Borchgrave - Television images of desperate settlers forcibly evicted by Israeli soldiers caused a national trauma in Israel. For a growing number of Israelis, it's now Gaza last - the last time Israelis will be forced out of their homes anywhere, except for four tiny hilltop settlements with 700 inhabitants in the northern West Bank that are part of the Gaza package deal. The Bush Doctrine holds that democracy is the best solution for most problems facing the Muslim world. But throughout the Middle East, Islamists are emerging as the political mainstream. Is the U.S. prepared to deal with Islamist parties as the democratic alternative to presently friendly authoritarian regimes? Israel is not prepared to live cheek by jowl with an Islamist neighbor. A Palestinian state in the West Bank would be irredentist, seeking to recover Palestinian land to the west - i.e., Israel.
2005-08-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive