Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Naysayers
David Brooks is right on target in his facetious op-ed about the naysayers, who have attempted to undermine Israel — their clueless ideology poisoning any powers of reason — or even a simple acknowledgment of reality. The oddest thing: many of them are do-gooders.
Thanks to Bush's steadfastness and Sharon's understanding of circumstances, it does appear — I've noted myself what Brooks is pointing out — that there might be a faint hope here. Sharon is dragging the Palestinians, kicking and screaming, into a confrontation with the meanings and responsibilities of making peace. As in Iraq, the forces of evil are still in place in the Palestinian territories, and they will not give up that power easily. But in Iraq about 80% of the population wants elections, and it has always been apparent to me that a majority of Palestinians would prefer peace — they have just been afraid of the sociopaths who have taken over their society.
All those enablers on the left, in Europe, of these sociopaths in the Palestinian community, have blood on their hands — both Palestinian blood and Israeli blood. It seems faintly possible that decent Palestinians, who want a future, who aren't in love with death and violence, will have a chance to speak out and find a life for their children and themselves. Or at least, that possibility is percolating — it is way too early to really know.
Bush concluded that peace would never come as long as Palestine was an undemocratic tyranny, and that the Palestinians needed to see their intifada would never bring triumph.