November 24, 2004
A quote about the cycle of violence in the Middle East around the Israeli/Palestinian conflict:
"Occupation, violence and terror have produced a paralysing mindset. Israel argues that as long as there is violence there will be occupation. Palestinians counter that as long as there is occupation there will be violence. This refrain reverberates more loudly than ever. Even during the 1990s, when peace plans lay on the table, there was little respite from violence. Israelis and Palestinians killed the other and they killed their own." Peter Rogers, Herzl's Nightmare, p.75.
Violence has become an end in itself.
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Gary
I think this is an accurate description of the mindset of the current situation. But I disagree about the assessment of the situation during the 1990's. When the PLO was empowered to run the West Bank and Gaza they did a reasonably good job of controlling violence from their side. If anything, many Palestinians complained that during this time the PLO was ruling with an iron fist, and in return Israel gave up very little. I would claim that it was that period of time, when the Isrealis had a viable "partner" in negotiations, that further contaminated an already difficult situation. If the Isrealis had seized the opportunity presented by Oslo, they may have avoided the current Intifada.