ISRAEL: Utopia, Northern Ireland, Shanghai, or Jericho?

Robert Gard writes: "The result of a cease fire will be a continuation of the expansion of Israeli settlements in the territories they conquered during the '67 war. When the situation is calm, the settlements proceed, and no one, except the Palestinians, says anything. It's an ideal situation for the Israelis. The Palestinians have no means of objecting when a cease fir is in effect. As Israeli statesmen have said, the result will be an objective situation on the ground of large numbers of Israelis ensconsed in the conquered territories of Judea and Sumeria that God wants them to occupy. The facts are that the kingdom of Israel controlled those territories for about 500 years; the Arabs for 1,00 years. Israel was given its homeland following WWII, with the stipulation that the Palestinians should also have a homeland".

My comment: Actually, the Balfour Declaration said more than that, calling for the respect of the existing population.

Ronald Hilton - 4/21/02