Letter to Co-op News

The Editor - Mr David Bowman
Co-operative News
Holyoake House, Hanover Street
Manchester M60 0AS UK

Sir,

When Labour/Co-op MPs Austin, Hemdrick, Love and Purchase called on the Government last week to "ensure the establishment of an independent viable Palestinian state alongside Israel", they expressed a hope which most Israelis, like me, share.

But perhaps because we are closer and far more involved in the issue than they are, Israeli parents (like me), spouses and children of the 1,000Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the past four years see something that the MPs evidently don't. (My vision is permanently sharpened by the cold-blooded murder of my 15 year-old daughter Malki three years ago in a Jerusalem restaurant.)

It's fine and right to say we want two states - one Israeli and one Palestinian Arab - living in peace, side by side. It's always been difficult to see any other way to resolve this piece of the overall Arab -vs- Israel conflict. Israelis of every political stripe have understood this for generations.

But the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas does not see things this way. Neither did Arafat. The things they actually say - as distinct from what many people wish they said - are not well understood, and are grossly under-reported.

Case in point: this morning, the Associated Press quotes Abbas saying "he would follow in Yasser Arafat's footsteps and demand that Israel recognize the right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel".

Sitting in Manchester, a person might be forgiven for thinking this is a "motherhood-and-apple-pie" statement, one that's perfectly understandable and makes sense. But it's not. It's one of the real reasons why people keep on being murdered here. Abass, like Arafat, and like every other political notable on the Palestinian Arab scene, holds to a vision of injecting millions of Palestinian Arabs into the borders of Israel. Does this mean two viable states living alongside one another? No. It never did, it never can, and it was never intended to.

From experience, I know that occasional readers of news reports coming from Israel and the Palestinian Authority are confused by references to a one state solution, a two state solution, the right of return and other similar abstractions. The problem with life here is that it can be so maddeningly complex to understand. But if you're going to make a public statement, especially one that expresses condolences on the death of a corrupt despot like Arafat, then you're not free to skip over those complexities.

Abbas, Arafat and the entire ongoing Arafatist regime meant exactly what they said. They want two states - one to call their own, and a second one, currently called Israel, that will be filled with freshly 'returning' Palestinians. In plain words, this is how they plan to destroy Israel. As AP's story today shows , it's no secret. The trouble is that people of goodwill seeking for a solution keep ignoring it.

Grasp this point and one is half way towards understanding why this conflict goes on and on and on.

Sincerely,
Arnold Roth
Jerusalem.