Submitted by Dave Levi, Nov 30, 2006 16:26

I am pessimistic that any agreement with the Palestinian Authority will bring lasting peace to the area, but it's worth a try, assuming the provisions are enforceable. I firmly believe that the 2 state solution is impossible given the dynamics of the area. Fatah, the good cop under Abbas, is just to the left of Hamas., which, states openly and candidly their goal of wiping out Israel. Hezbollah, the emerging authority at Israel's border in Lebanon, also, is candid about their goals. Iran, Israel's distant neighbor, has it's Shihad arsenals already aimed at Israel with BC warheads, waiting to substitute a few nuclear devices. The offer by Olmert obviously has been dictated by Bush and Condi's M.E. latest venture in that part of the world. It comes concurrently with the absurd sugestion by Baker and Company that talking to Iran and Syria will somehow move the area towards peace. But they and Blair also link the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the worldwide violence and instability. What they don't understand, or maybe they do, is that if Israel didn't exist, Islamic initiated violence and terrorism would.. Al Qaeda didn't attack the WTC over Israel (Israel was in deep discussions with Arafat at the planning stage, if I recall). It's all about power, power to control the vast oil wealth of the region. It's about the spread of Islam throughout the world. It's all about ridding the area of any Jewish state, something intolerable to the Arabs. This conflict between Jew and Arab could have been resolved decades ago, with each side contributing their cultures to the other. I'm afraid that Olmert's offer, while wishful, is unfortuantely, just a fantasy. But let's not go overboard. This is not about egos, either Bush or Olmert. Bush will not be President in 2 years, and Olmert can be replaced with one vote of no confidence. It's about trying to get the 2 sides to live with one another, without killing each other.

Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.