Dear Mort

You want us to “look at the history of the Palestinian Arabs” – but what’s more important is to look at their future. What is your vision for Israel and the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza? If separation between Israelis and Palestinians is needed, as most observers believe – how would you try to achieve such separation?

Best
S.R.

Firstly, it must be understood that Israel has already given away 42% of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza, where 99% of Palestinian Arabs live. The only reason there are Israeli soldiers, roadblocks and checkpoints in Judea and Samaria is because terrorism and planning of terrorist attacks continues. When there is no more Arab terrorism there will be no more Israeli soldiers, roadblocks and checkpoints. Additionally, if anything was learned from the Oslo Accords, it’s that land and other concessions to the Palestinian Arabs only cause more terrorism and more demands.

We also reject the racist notion that, while one million Arabs can live among six million Jews, no Jew should be allowed to live among one and half million Arabs in Judea and Samaria. If, in fact, it’s not safe for a Jew to live there, what kind of a peace between Arab and Jew does that presage?

Nonetheless, a policy of separation will be worthless unless the Palestinian Arab culture that promotes hatred and murder of Israelis and Jews in their TV, radio, school books, newspapers, official speeches, sermons and children’s camps is transformed. In addition, the PA must change the names of the streets, schools and sports teams honoring terrorists. Moreover, the PA must actively promote the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state and condemn murdering innocent Jews as an obscenity. The PA must also finally begin to arrest terrorists, confiscate illegal weapons and outlaw terrorist groups. In fact, all of this is required by the Oslo agreements, the Roadmap and the Annapolis Joint Declaration. Otherwise, separation would simply set the stage for more cross-border terrorism and missile attacks against Israel. The Gaza withdrawal/separation is a perfect example of separation leading to greater disaster.

After World War II, the US and its allies understood the need to transform the culture and policy of its defeated enemies. Before the US allowed post-war Germany to fully govern itself, they made sure that schools and media promoted the understanding that Nazism was an abomination that only leads to disaster for themselves and the world and that no Nazi could participate in the new government. Soon after this goal was achieved, you had few Germans who would even admit to having been Nazis and Germans became part of peace-loving society.

In the PA areas, we must create a new environment where no Arab will support terrorism or praise suicide bombers or call for Israel’s destruction, where no PA media, schools or music videos teach children to aspire to death for Allah show mothers joyous at their children’s death for Allah, teaches Israelis murder and rape Palestinians, that Israelis poison, cause cancer and AIDS among Arabs, that Israelis are evil and treacherous, that Zionism is racist, and that the Holocaust is a Jewish lie. No wonder Arabs believe it’s a mitzvah to kill Jews and destroy Israel.

As columnist George F. Will said, we must “deNazify” the Palestinian culture. When that happens, it will be as safe for a Jew to walk in Ramallah as it is for an Arab today to walk in Tel Aviv.

When that occurs, separation will no longer be an issue.

M.A.K.