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Fence Gives Israel Chance for Peace
(Newsday) David Makovsky - Some Palestinian leaders believed violence would be a tool of negotiations. Palestinian militants like the now-jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti argued that the only way Israel will yield land would be if Israelis bleed during the armed uprising. "If the intifada stops, the negotiations will not succeed. The intifada and the struggle are two basic conditions for the success of the negotiations," Barghouti told a Persian Gulf newspaper, Al-Bayan, in 2001. Palestinian polls say many Palestinians believe violence is a way towards a two-state solution, while many others believe the violence of the last four years has been aimed against Israel's very existence. The fence provides Israel's leadership with political breathing space to pursue diplomatic options. A rational debate cannot emerge over the din of bombs. Barghouti was wrong. When Israelis get blown up, Israeli attitudes hardened.