by Omar Ali

… expecting the US and Europe to get up on their own and solve this problem (or any other problem they helped to create) you are being foolish.

On the other hand, it is equally foolish to assume that one can ignore the existence of US, Europe, public opinion, etc and decide “we” (meaning the exalted Ummah) will solve it on our own, thank you.

The facts on the ground are that Israel is the more developed power (with a huge advantage over its Arab neighbors, though not as much as it used to enjoy in the past when the camel jockeys were still stuck in the 18th century). The Palestinians are the weaker party. The weaker party has to use more of its brain than the stronger party (and in the best case, they use Judo: they turn the enemy’s strength against them).

The Palestinians have to work long and hard to get public opinion in Europe and the US to turn adjacent to Israel (and they have done a lot of that work and managed to get Europe especially to move further apart from Israeli hardliner positions, with patient hard work they will get the American public to move the same way, it can be done), they have to resist them on the ground, they have to organize enough to be able to sustain the struggle and they have to eventually offer the Israeli public an “out”…a way to settle this without being annihilated.

The last is important because it is important to remember that the Israeli public also consists of human beings, in this case organized in a rather sophisticated and capable culture. If their only option is annihilation or victory, they will fight tooth and nail. If they have a reasonable option short of annihilation, they too can be split between moderates and hardliners.

..read the voluminous literature about Mahatma Gandhi….

Or check out Hussein Ibish on the internet:

http://wws.princeton.edu/event_rep/HusseinIbish03_31/

Courtesy: crdp@yahoogroups.com, Mar 22, 2010