A report by Israel?s Arutz-7 news agency recently indicated that former Mossad Director Ephraim Halevy had come out in opposition to the US-backed Road Map to Middle East Peace, because of its nature as an ?imposed? solution. Halevy explained that a solution must be reached by the parties involved, and not be imposed by an outside force, according to the station.
This report reminded me of those famous words once uttered by US President John F. Kennedy: ?But peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people.?
Considering the Palestinians? unwillingness to take seriously Israel?s security needs, and the ongoing terrorist war aimed at killing as many Jews as possible, one is left wondering, ?What sort of feelings reside in the hearts and minds of the Palestinians??
America is currently doing all it can (at least it says it is) to win over the ?hearts and minds? of the Iraqi people. Washington realizes that it can?t bring true stability and peace to Iraq until the people desire it.
So why is there no parallel campaign aimed at winning over the hearts and minds of the Palestinians to the reality of peace with Israel? A quick comparison of the school curriculums of the Israelis and Palestinians will show unequivocally which side is in need of such a campaign. [The Prism Group recently released a comprehensive report entitled ?Palestinian children: What are they being taught?? View it at http://www.theprismgroup.org/education.htm] A brief glance at opinion polls will bring one to the same conclusion - the vast majority of the Palestinian population does not have a deep yearning to live in peaceful coexistence with the Jews.
Rather, the desires finding residence in the hearts and minds of most Palestinians can be found in the charters of groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Yasser Arafat?s Fatah. The ultimate desire remains the elimination of Israel as the Jewish state, and the establishment of yet another Arab Islamic state in its place. The murder of all the Jews currently living in Israel is also thrown in.
Some would point to the fact that a minority of Palestinians are official members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah as proof that most Palestinians don?t identify with those groups? ideologies. This assertion is quickly blown out of the water when one peruses the myriad Palestinian public opinion polls that show a firm, and often overwhelming, majority of ?average? Palestinians supporting those groups. A public survey carried out by the Office of Palestinian Information among 1,102 Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza last month showed some 60.2 percent supported ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, and 56 percent felt such attacks serve Palestinian ?national interests.?
The biggest mistake of the current Road Map ?peace? process is the American assumption that the majority of the Palestinian public is opposed to violence against Israel, and just wants to live normal, peaceful lives. Just because someone doesn?t join in the physical slaughter of Israel?s Jews doesn?t mean he/she is opposed to it, and it certainly doesn?t mean that person?s heart and mind are primed for peaceful coexistence.
[Courtesy of Jerusalem Newswire.]
This report reminded me of those famous words once uttered by US President John F. Kennedy: ?But peace does not rest in the charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper, let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace in the hearts and minds of all of our people.?
Considering the Palestinians? unwillingness to take seriously Israel?s security needs, and the ongoing terrorist war aimed at killing as many Jews as possible, one is left wondering, ?What sort of feelings reside in the hearts and minds of the Palestinians??
America is currently doing all it can (at least it says it is) to win over the ?hearts and minds? of the Iraqi people. Washington realizes that it can?t bring true stability and peace to Iraq until the people desire it.
So why is there no parallel campaign aimed at winning over the hearts and minds of the Palestinians to the reality of peace with Israel? A quick comparison of the school curriculums of the Israelis and Palestinians will show unequivocally which side is in need of such a campaign. [The Prism Group recently released a comprehensive report entitled ?Palestinian children: What are they being taught?? View it at http://www.theprismgroup.org/education.htm] A brief glance at opinion polls will bring one to the same conclusion - the vast majority of the Palestinian population does not have a deep yearning to live in peaceful coexistence with the Jews.
Rather, the desires finding residence in the hearts and minds of most Palestinians can be found in the charters of groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Yasser Arafat?s Fatah. The ultimate desire remains the elimination of Israel as the Jewish state, and the establishment of yet another Arab Islamic state in its place. The murder of all the Jews currently living in Israel is also thrown in.
Some would point to the fact that a minority of Palestinians are official members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah as proof that most Palestinians don?t identify with those groups? ideologies. This assertion is quickly blown out of the water when one peruses the myriad Palestinian public opinion polls that show a firm, and often overwhelming, majority of ?average? Palestinians supporting those groups. A public survey carried out by the Office of Palestinian Information among 1,102 Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza last month showed some 60.2 percent supported ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel, and 56 percent felt such attacks serve Palestinian ?national interests.?
The biggest mistake of the current Road Map ?peace? process is the American assumption that the majority of the Palestinian public is opposed to violence against Israel, and just wants to live normal, peaceful lives. Just because someone doesn?t join in the physical slaughter of Israel?s Jews doesn?t mean he/she is opposed to it, and it certainly doesn?t mean that person?s heart and mind are primed for peaceful coexistence.
[Courtesy of Jerusalem Newswire.]