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Not sure why but it seems that even when Glenn makes reasonable comments about Israel, letter writers here go to extremes. Let me try what I hope is a more reasoned position:
1. I think Glenn got many key points right: Ultimately there needs to be a 2-State solution, the US should act to the extent possible as an honest broker to help bring a fair settlement. Notwithstanding the bad history on both sides, there is no reason Palestinians and Arabs cannot make peace with Israel.
2. I think Glenn misses some key points as well, at both the fundamental and practical level:
a. At the fundamental level, Israel is a democracy with a strong history of the rule of law. Arabs have one cases against the government in the Israeli courts (rights they rarely have in Arab countries). Israel certainly is far from perfect but with a vibrant system it can ultimately self-correct, particularly if there is a realistic chance for peace. The Arab countries, and Palestinian leadership, is largely tyrannical with no history of rule of law, consistently free and fare elections, etc. What amazes me most often about fierce critics of Israel is that by letting the Arabs off the hook they encourage them to prolong their own misery. One reason the Arab world has yet to make peace with Israel is that tyrants benefit from an outside enemy. So they let the Palestinians refugees live in squalor for generations (unlike Israel who, imperfectly but still, integrated the Jews exiled from Arab lands), use them even in the current battle as human shields, etc. Peace will come when the US and Western World hold the Arab world accountable for their tyrannical practices.
b. The current battle: I do not know if Israel is doing the right thing. I worry that it is being lead by the same leaders who were so incompetent in Lebanon, just before an Israeli election. War always involves needless tragic death and destruction, and often has unintended consequences that hurt everyone for years to come. That said, no country on earth has ever or would ever accept missiles being fired on it, even if the launcher had a "good" reason for doing so. So until Glenn or the US or someone works out a mechanism to get the missiles to stop then I do not see how Israel can do anything but finish this battle. In Lebanon, Israel stopped short of victory (in part because of the incompetent way if fought) in part because as part of the cease-fire the UN was to prevent the return of weapons to South Lebanon. By all accounts the UN failed and Hezbollah has more weapons than ever. So Israel cannot stop now until there is a much better mechanism in place to ensure that Gaza does not become a weapons haven for Hamas. When Glenn or someone else has a good idea for how to ensure this, my guess is the Israelis will be ready to stop this very tragic battle.
