Ethan Bronner: In The Mideast, Force Trumps Diplomacy

nytimes.com:

JERUSALEM As the Obama administration tries to broker a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is a dark truth lurking: force has produced clearer results in this dispute than talk.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[MarcusT]

“A national movement that began as ‘legitimacy without an entity’ is becoming ‘an entity without legitimacy’ before our very eyes.”

Sums it up rather well.

[ResidualSelfImage]

The Palestinians should rocket the settlements on the West Bank and root out the squatters.
Dig up the security walls then their will be peace.
OBAMA TEAR DOWN THESE WALLS!!

[TheLonelyGod]

War is Peace.

Sounds pretty Orwellian to me.

[alysheba 3]

The Israelis should know.

[davidwayneosedach]

This aarticle brings up some good points. How effective is our diplomacy with Iran anyway?

Not at all!

[mommamia526]

Force trumps diplomacy in the ME. I agree with that. But there are additional views of what is going on in the ME. See www.Road90.com for a muslim perspective. When you see that, do not only laugh, but see it as a warning. While in the U.S people are still working, we, too, are not producing much of anything any longer. To see what judaism has come to, also view, on that same Road90 page, visitors to The Wall. We see Hillary, McCain, and others..and then there is that one guy who does not put strips of paper in the crevices in the wall. He has found the direct line to God, possibly. Then there are some funny jewish inventions. Funny they are, indeed. But if symbols of a religion become the objects of humor, we also should be watching out for demise. Because Islam does not tolerate religious symbols to be made fun of it appears to be a more serious and more moral force in the eyes of many.

[mommamia526]

There are TWO issues at work in the ME, namely religion and force. Islam is on the rise, because it gives people strong directives and morals, whether or not we in the West agree with it , and faith. Force is effective in the ME, because it reinforces the faith that lies behind the force. IF a nation loses a conflict, even if it wins a conflict and it is maintianed on the other side, that they really lost, there is a move forward towards the stronger religion. The attacker feels sanctioned. In the West and in the U.S. we have gone over the brink feeling sorry for those who lose, who are poor, and oppressed. Even if their situation is not that of an oppressed minority, if it can be maintained that it is, we feel moral obligation to see that as the correct view. There is, therefore, a confusion between morality and emotion. Morality comes from LAWS, religious laws and civil laws. The islamist terrorists has no such thresholds, because what moves him is righteousness, as he interprets it, and the case for Allah. That is why we see no tears when people are killed or maimed, and we do see dancing in the street when the twin towers come down. (Perceived) Strength always attracts people. That is why there are converts to Islam all over the world now. Western societies are weak, morally, and religously, and awash in immodesty and immorality.

[Mahmoud B]

"The islamist terrorists has no such thresholds, because what moves him is righteousness, as he interprets it, and the case for Allah."

That is is a very accurate description of the fuel of the insanity that's going on. I would add this is true of both sides' extremists. That is why interfaith dialogue has a better chance of solving this insanity than political negotiations.

[omobob]

SDEROT, Israel, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Two Kassam rockets fired from Gaza into Israel's western Negev hit open areas and caused no injuries, Israeli authorities said Sunday. Nothing has been learned,. Nothing has been gained. Quotes of Dayan from The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World by Avi Shlaim
Let us not today fling accusation at the murderers. What cause have we to complain about their fierce hatred to us? For eight years now, they sit in their refugee camps in Gaza, and before their eyes we turn into our homestead the land and villages in which they and their forefathers have lived.

[jay1975]

How many years has the west tried to resolve issues in the ME and other Arab nations through talking? How's that worked out so far? We need to leave them to themselves and worry about issues at home. We have enough oil and other partners in the world that we do not need Saudi oil and for those that support Israel simply because they are the chosen people, then let God protect them.

[Philclock]

Somebody tell Obama.

[Albert Amato]

Force has stopped the Kassam and Kaytusha rockets.....let's hope Hamas and Fatah can form some sort of alliance and swear off violence and accept Israel and I am sure a Palestinian state would be the result.
Enough already.

[ray01]

And what force will be used to stop Israel's use of the following on civilians?
F-16's, laser guided bombs, attack helicopters, tanks, white phosporus.

[Albert Amato]

Hmmm, I guess that would be a peace treaty....­...Capishe­?