Let me see here, since I was born there was one Israel, and the bad people were the Arabs and the PLO who demanded a free and independent Palestine. So, then we get all of these talks and bargaining, and one thing leads to another where finally something tangible appears accomplished and then consequences, both covert and overt happen that derails this entire process.
It makes perfectly good sense that a deal of a two-state solution become a reality, but Extremists Israelis and Palestinians do not want this to happen. It has become apparent by the timeline of the past eighty years that peace is only an illusion that the extremists wish to avoid.
Both sides, the extreme right represented by Hamas are hell-bent on the destruction of Israel. Members of the extreme right in Israel have same opinion about those who live in West Bank and Gaza, seemingly prefectures of what could be a Palestinian state.
Moderation apparently has no voice in this discussion, although moderation would eventually bring about peace this region needs, but unfortunately are silenced by those radicals who speak loudest.
The adage that one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter holds quarter here where it has been a contentious ongoing conflict, not just recently but going as far back as Biblical times. Their voices scream and they pound their chests because now in the extremists’ mindset, there must be only one nation: Palestine without Jews or Israel without Muslims, Palestinians, or anyone else not Jewish.
I want the two-state solution, but as I stated earlier after the October 7th fiasco—one man’s massacre is another man’s victory—I am neither Arab nor Israeli, Muslim or Jew, my point of view is moot to those who are and look upon us Westerners with contempt and scorn.
Jerry Schellhammer 