Recognition of the Jewish State: A Prerequisite for True Peace
Everyone is screaming about Israel's not making 'concessions for peace,' lately by not extending the construction freeze in Jerusalem. I don't hear anyone saying a word about the so-called Palestinians (who amazingly didn't exist in 1948. Somehow then, they were just "Arabs") not recognizing the state of Israel and that being an obstacle for peace. Finally there is someone (Michael B. Oren) who actually noticed that discrepancy and wrote about it in the New York Times : Affirmation of Israel’s Jewishness, however, is the very foundation of peace, its DNA. Just as Israel recognizes the existence of a Palestinian people with an inalienable right to self-determination in its homeland, so, too, must the Palestinians accede to the Jewish people’s 3,000-year connection to our homeland and our right to sovereignty there. This mutual acceptance is essential if both peoples are to live side by side in two states in genuine and lasting peace. The fact ...