Frank: Mark, it is disturbing that so many of our people do not know the history of the numerous attempts over the years by Israel to accept a two state solution with Palestinians and to make a permanent peace with them as well.
There have been five incredibly generous offers of a two State solution made to the Arabs living in the area called Palestine starting with the Peel Commission led by Lord Peel in 1937. That initial offer was made by Britian and proposed to give 80% of what is now Israel to the Arabs and only 20% to the Jews. While the Jews accepted the Peel Commission’s offer, the Arabs did not. The Arabs wanted it all and refused to accept this generous offer to give each people a place to live in peace and prosperity.
The other four offers that were rejected by Palestinians include:
The 1947 United Nations partition of the land giving the Palestinians half of the land of Palestine.
The offer by Israel to return all the land won in the six-day 1967 war for peace, resulting in the three “no responses” by the defeated Arabs of no treaty, no recognition, and no peace.
The Camp David offer to Yasir Arafat made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and President Bill Clinton in 2000 which would give to the Palestinians over 90% of the West Bank with appropriate land swaps, all of Gaza, east Jerusalem as its capital and certain refugee rights.
Finally, the fifth offer of a two-state solution came from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who in 2008 again offered a Palestinian state comprised of 94% of the West Bank, and similar offers made in 2000 by Prime Minister Barak.
Also keep in mind that when Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 signed a peace agreement with Israel, there has been a solid peace with Israel ever since. However, when Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 and removed every Israeli settlement in Gaza to allow the Palestinians the right to govern itself and be free of Israeli occupation, the Palestinians have done nothing but issue death and destruction on the citizens of Israel.
According to the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nation, Abba Eban, “The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity” The Palestinians do not want peace or a two-state solution. They want it all.
Mark, what else do Jews need to know about the constant rejection by the Arabs for a two-state solution?
Mark: Frank, I have to believe that most members of the Jewish people, want nothing more than a complete, enduring, and everlasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. This includes the Palestinian people. Regrettably, the leadership of the Palestinian people have advocated for a one state solution, by which they mean the eradication of the state of Israel.
There is a stark difference between our hopes and dreams and the reality of life on the ground right now between Israel and its neighbors. If you were Israeli, after all that you have endured, why, would you wish for a solution when the only evidence seen today is that once given the power to run their own lives, the Palestinian leadership (with the support of the Palestinian people by a wide majority) have supported the wholehearted destruction of the Jewish state.
In addition, according to a recent public opinion poll sited in the Wall Street Journal in January, 59% of Jewish Israelis currently oppose an agreement that would lead to a Palestinian state.
As you have pointed out there has been absolutely no willingness on the Palestinian side to trade land for peace, or to recognize the right of the Jewish people for a Jewish homeland, even alongside a Palestinian sovereign state. The evidence, to the contrary, is that every time the Israel government and its citizens, have given land concessions to the Palestinian people, they have used those territories as an opportunity to wage attacks upon Israel and the Jewish people.
While some may fantasize about an eventual Palestine state, there can be no sovereignty given to a people whose primary aim is to destroy, annihilate, and exterminate the Jewish people. We have seen all too well what has happened in the history of our people when those who wish to destroy us say what they mean and mean what they say.
Perhaps someday there will be a two-state solution, however, to give the Palestinian people a state of their own at this time is the equivalent of giving them the right to destroy Israel, the land of hopes and dreams of our people for two thousand years. If we are made to choose, between them or us, there is no question where I stand: I will always choose us when it comes to matters of survival and security of my people.
Frank: I totally agree with you on this issue and wish Palestinians would revolt against their leaders, vote them out of office, and sit down with Israelis to discuss a peaceful transition to acceptance and peace leading to a two-state solution. The truth, however, is that most Palestinians agree with their leaders and want to destroy the people and land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
The world is not accustomed to witnessing a powerful Jew. When we are victims, the world is often sympathetic and understanding, but when confronted with a mighty Israel, able to conquer and destroy those who attempt to destroy it, they are confused. Israel is our antidote to the poison of Jew hatred and the sooner the world understands that Israel is not going to go away or be destroyed, the better life will be for Palestinians.
As it is said, if Palestinians would lay down their weapons, there would be peace, prosperity, and a fulfilled two state solution in the Middle East, but if Israel laid down its weapons, there would be no Israel.
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