Editor's Letter
WOMEN'S
EUROPEAN & AMERICAN
A Clash Of Values
N
of every problem has a solution, especially the
show the Lebanese people that terrorists cannot protect them.
Israeli-Palestinian crisis. U.S. Secretary of State
It exposed the limits of Hezbollah's arsenal despite Iran's $200
Condoleezza Rice would have no chance of solving
million annual investment in weapons and Syria's supply of
it even if she led 60 days of nonstop shuttle diplomacy.
heavy rockets and anti-tank weaponry. The war also height-
So says Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal editor and foreign ened the moderate Arab states' concern about Iran, creating
affairs columnist and former editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem
a climate more conducive to cooperation among moderate
Post. I like his bluntness.
Arabs, Israel and the U.S., as the American Israel Public
"I think it's insulting as well as
Affairs Committee reported.
inane to suggest that somehow the
But I concur with Stephens: The war was a squandered
problem of the Middle East hasn't
opportunity for Israel. The Olmert government didn't have a
been resolved because of the failure
plan or a long-term strategy beyond air strikes against hated
to see that peace is better than war or
Hezbollah guerillas. Smarter planning might have positioned
that growth is better than stagnation:'
Israel, America and Lebanon far more advantageously vis-a-
said Stephens in an exclusive interview vis Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.
with the Detroit Jewish News on June
The essence of guerilla warfare is that to guerilla warriors,
11.
as long as they don't lose, they "win:' So Hezbollah, though
Stephens, 33, was visiting Metro
crippled by Israel's air assault, survived the war because Israel
Detroit at the invitation of the
didn't defeat it.
Michigan chapter of StandWithUs, a
Los Angeles-based Israel education and advocacy group. The
No Palestinian Unit
local chapter marked its first anniversary with a celebration
Listening to Stephens reinforced my belief that there's no such
and fundraiser at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
thing as the Palestinian people, at least not any longer. Hamas'
Hills.
control of Gaza and Fatah's grip on the West Bank seem to
In an enlightening 30-minute discussion held a few hours
underscore that.
prior to the main event, Stephens articulated
Stephens put it bluntly: "The moment that the
that a Western standards solution to the
Palestinians achieved absolute sovereignty on
Middle East clash will remain elusive despite
one patch of land, they managed to create not
our hope for a civil end to nearly seven years
just a terrorist enclave but really an anarchic
of Palestinian terror against Israel.
free-for-all zone. More Palestinians have died at
"The problems associated with the conflict
the hands of other Palestinians in recent years
are genuinely intractable because you are deal-
than at the hands of Israelis. So if you have a
ing with what amounts to a profound contest
country that has no sense of what it is or whose
of civilization values there between Israel and
identity is based exclusively on what it is not,
its neighbors in addition to territorial issues:'
you don't really have a people."
Stephens said.
That's telling.
With the rising death toll of the conflict as a
The Hamas newspaper, Al Risalah, declares
spur, Israel and its allies would be more apt to
that suicide bombers act at Allah's behest to
find nuggets of coexistence if they focused on
exterminate the Jews and Israel as a benefit
bringing forth manageable situations.
to humanity — a common refrain. But even
Bret Stephen s:
"Create breathing space for Israel by
Palestinians would be hard-pressed to define
perceptive ob server.
exchanging bad problems for slightly better
their culture and their aspirations without
problems;' Stephens said. "These are the kinds
drawing parallels with Zionism and Jews. No
of options that are realistically available to Israeli policymak-
distinctive underpinnings exist.
ers.
A two-state solution to 59 years of more-on-than-off fight-
He's right: There's no Hail Mary pass that will halt the ter-
ing between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbors now
ror. Stephens' view matters: He joined the Jerusalem Post in
seems a pipe dream. The Palestinians have had plenty of time
January 2002, just after Palestinian Authority President Yasser
to sort out who they want to be. By all accounts, they don't
Arafat launched his second reign of terror on Israel ostensibly want to be "one" because even that would mimic a central core
in response to Israel's defensive-minded military occupation
of their divinely designated enemy: the Jewish people.
of the Palestinian territories. In 2004, Stephens returned to
Bret Stephens and I closed out our pointed and certainly
the Wall Street Journal, where he previously worked.
disconcerting exchange by looking at America's continu-
ous and unparalleled support for Israel. The conclusion:
The Guerilla Factor
Americans fundamentally back Israel because they see it as
In the wake of Israel's pullout from Gaza in August 2005 and
a mirror image: a Western society, a democratic government,
Hamas' rise to power within the P.A. last year, the Palestinians
a relatively safe, secure place. America's enemies are Israel's.
re-hung their main reason for terrorizing Israel on the
Said Stephens: "I think it takes a peculiar moral perversity
demand for resettlement of Palestinians displaced in 1948 as
to say, 'No, it's actually all the fault of the Israelis.' I think the
well as their descendants. Granting such a ludicrous demand
average American will say, 'Israel is like a little America.'"
would destroy Israel as a Jewish state. Arabs would outnum-
Given its place in the crosshairs of the embattled Islamic
ber Israel's 5.4 million Jews.
and terrorist world, Israel is America's most strategically situ-
Israel didn't lose last summer's Lebanon border war with
ated ally in addition to being a very good friend alongside
Hezbollah. It did stunt Hezbollah's weapons buildup and did
Great Britain and Canada.
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