Lori Lowenthal Marcus:
Last question, for everyone: If there is a Palestinian State will the lives of the Arabs living there improve?
Kedar: It will get much worse. First, Hamas will take over – the question is not will it happen but when will it happen? They will take this state over. And when it happens, women will be forced to wear veils – think of Gaza. They will change the rule according to Sharia, and Palestinian people will have no say, just as they don’t in Gaza. So their lives will be much worse, and they will start shooting at Israel at cities like Tel Aviv, Hadera and others. And Israel will not let it happen (2:37) they are not going to wait for another cast lead operation. A Palestinian State is guaranteed misery for them.
Abu Toameh: Whenever I go to Gaza or the West Bank I think to myself how lucky I am to live inside the Jewish State because its much better than living in Ramallah or Gaza and even safer. Every second person I meet in the Palestinian areas, their dream is to move into Israel not because they are Zionists or because they love the teachings of Herzl or Jabotinsky, but because they want a better life. The situation there is already bad. We already have two Palestinian states: Gaza which is really bad and the West Bank which is bad, but not as bad as Gaza. A Palestinian State in the current state would mean a jihadi state run by Islamists because sooner or later Hamas will take over. This state will be a source of instability, such a state would be a poor third world country that if you don’t give them money it will be Iran and Al Qaeda. A Palestinian state may not be the solution but it will make things much more complicated and worse for both Israelis and Palestinians.
If Israel makes the same mistake it made in Gaza, on your next trip to Israel you will need to fly into Cairo airport or Amman as it will be too dangerous to land at Ben Gurion. A Palestinian state will become another radical state like Iran and the rest.
We underestimate the incitement, the messages are extremely negative not only by Hamas but also the PA. Jews are being demonized. Palestinian are being taught that there is no such thing as the Western Wall, Jewish State etc. The new generation of Palestinians is becoming much more radicalized and if they go to elections tomorrow they will vote for Hamas and if not Hamas someone worse. If the state department thinks the conflict is about a mile over here or there they are mistaken, it is about Israel’s existence (9:34) which is the core issue in the Arab-Muslim world.
Luft: The biggest causality of Palestinian State will be the Palestinians living in the Diaspora particularly in Lebanon there are 400, 000 Palestinians there living in dire conditions, treated as 3rd class citizens. If there is a state in the “new Palestinian state” will not accept them. They will use them to attack Israel from the north to keep the cause alive they are the ones who will pay the price for the Palestinian State.
Rosen: The goal was to change the paradigm which is the hardest thing to do because of the theory of cognitive dissonance. When people have a deeply held belief, they reject the facts and hold on to the belief. If you find facts that support the belief they remember those, and will later recite those, but anything that doesn’t fit gets rejected.
And what worries me about changing this paradigm is the methodology of all those who have been pushing this drug – their methodology is to pile up best case assumptions which goes something like this: the whole Arab world is going to back peace, the Palestinians will be led by a visionary who have only the highest aspirations, and the model goes on. And of course if all that would happen we would live in a golden new age but you remember what Moshe Dayan said: “People tell me the day will come when the lion is going to lie with lamb. When that day comes, I want to be the lion.”
Rhode: Thank you everyone.
Note: Articles listed under this section provide information on the current discourse concerning the Israeli - Arab Palestinian End Game. The views expressed in these articles are the views of the authors' and are not included here to represent the views of Z STREET.
