Thursday, January 30, 2014

Kerry, this isn't the road to peace

 Prof. Ron Breiman
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is about to present his plan, the purpose of which is to force Israel to hand the country's heartland over to the enemy, to divide Jerusalem including the Old City, to ethnically cleanse hundreds of thousands of Jews and to undermine "little" Israel's security, in exchange for a few utterances which the enemy still refuses to make, and a few dubious European payouts, which could be withheld at any point.
And that's what they call peace?
The Kerry plan cannot bring about peace. It is based on pretenses, as if the conflict is territorial when it is actually religious. It not only denies the Jewish people's historical roots in this tiny corner of the world, but also international law, British Mandatory documents concerning Israel (the greater Israel, across both banks of the river Jordan), the basic principles of the San Remo Conference -- which were adopted by international institutions -- and disregards the majority of the Senate. The plan rests on heart's desires, not on verified risk assessment.

Actually, there's no cure to the conflict, not in the tight geographical confines of western Israel and not in our generation. Therefore, any attempt to dictate peace is destined to fail and exacerbate the conflict. Just look at the so-called peace of Oslo and the downward spiral it precipitated.
Kerry, in presenting the plan, whether directly or through columnist Thomas L. Friedman, is perpetuating original sin -- from Oslo all the way to Prime Minister Benjamin Netnyahu's Bar-Ilan speech -- as if the "vision" of two states is the solution, as if it's possible to overcome Israeli hesitations through electronic or optical means, however sophisticated they may be. Kerry and the Israelis inviting and encouraging the pressure of foreign boycotts are wrong to brush off the Zionist vision, as expressed in "Hatikva," the Israeli national anthem: "To be a free nation in our land."
Shamefully, there are those among us who believe that "Hatikva" is a bit outdated, that we must replace the Zionist vision with the "vision" of two states. In other words: Our land is not our land, and it is not "the land of Zion and Jerusalem." Rather, the land comprises territory and real estate, a prostitute's fee to the enemy and, alternately, we should be purchasing chunks of it from the Arab occupiers, who were ushered into Israel under the auspices of foul Oslo "peace."
Certain individuals have recommended abandoning Jews to the illustrious Palestinian occupation forces, forgetting that the return to Zion's ultimate goal was "to be a free nation in our land." Many continue to bang their and our heads against the wall, holding onto the mendacious prospect of land for "peace," which is nothing but relinquishing parts of Israel in exchange for terrorism, obstinately refusing to recognize the fact that, if there is a solution, we should seek it out at another juncture and location, not within the lands of western Israel.
The basic assumption since 1993 has been that peace entails the establishment of a Palestinian state in addition to the one east of the Jordan river. We have been brainwashed into believing that peace is improbable any other way, and one right-wing leader after another is falling in line with the Oslo-ites.
To Mr. Kerry, we should say: The time has come to seek another route to peace. Instead of continuing to follow faulty assumptions, we should think about another road still not traveled: two states for two peoples (the Jewish people and the Arab people) on the two banks of the Jordan River.
Professor Ron Breiman is the former chairman of Professors for a Strong Israel.

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