I'm sure many
of you have heard the claim that Jewish communities in Judea Samaria, the West
Bank, are an obstacle to peace.
I've always been perplexed by
this notion.
Because no one would seriously
claim that the nearly two million Arabs living inside Israel – that they're an
obstacle to peace. That's because they aren't. On the contrary.
Israel's
diversity shows its openness and readiness for peace. Yet the Palestinian
leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one pre-condition: No
Jews.
There's a phrase for that: It's
called ethnic cleansing.
And this demand is outrageous.
It's even more outrageous that
the world doesn't find this outrageous. Some otherwise enlightened countries
even promote this outrage.
Ask yourself this: Would you
accept ethnic cleansing in your state? A territory without Jews, without
Hispanics, without blacks?
Since when is bigotry a
foundation for peace?
At this moment, Jewish
schoolchildren in Judea Samaria are playing in sandboxes with their friends.
Does their presence make peace
impossible?
I don’t think so.
I think what makes peace
impossible is intolerance of others. Societies that respect all people are the
ones that pursue peace. Societies that demand ethnic cleansing don't pursue
peace.
I envision a Middle East where
young Arabs and young Jews learn together, work together, live together side by
side in peace.
Our region needs more tolerance,
not less.
So the next time you hear someone
say Jews can't live somewhere, let alone in their ancestral homeland, take a
moment to think of the implications.
Ethnic cleansing for peace is
absurd.
It's about time somebody said it.
I just did.
Excellent! Bibi is finally doing what he should have done years ago – state the obvious. The State Department has absolutely no real arguments to counter Bibi’s message, except to say that Muslims should for some reason be excluded from the norms applied to everyone else.
