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• Wednesday, January 7, 2009 08:53 AM

  Jonathan

  Here is what you posted in respose to Malkatraz:

  "As to your other point, that Israel's making goodwill gestures to the Palestinian population will dry up Hamas support, you obviously don't understand mentalities other than your own. This isn't your fault, but you need to acknowledge that a fundamentalist Moslem Palestinian doesnt' think like you. If you don't, you can't say you really respect their culture. Israel WITHDREW COMPLETELY from Gaza. Their reaction was the Israelis are weak, so we can abuse them. And they have been doing just that for years."

  You imply in it that all Palestinians are fundamentalist Moslem and therefore any gestures of goodwill are bootless. And you asserted that Israel WITHDREW COMPLETELY from Gaza. Well, all Palestinians are not radical extremists, in fact a majority are not. And Malkatraz's proposal that gestures of goodwill toward that majority rather than punishing it for the actions of a minority might prove more fruitful for Israel seems rational in that light and could work. And Isreal did not WITHDRAW COMPLETELY from Gaza. It controls Gaza's airspace and borders and therefore is still legally in control. It can and has cut the Gazans' food, medical supplies and adversely impacted the quality of their lives.

  Imagine if the majority of Palestinians were safe, happy in their own homes, prosperous and fairly treated. Do you really think that they would allow a small minority of extremists to mess that up? The problem is that Israel has never allowed them to taste that happy state. It wags it like a carrot in front of them and then does not follow through or does so in a way that negates any possible good effect like the phoney "pull out." Can you blame the Palestinians for ceasing to believe in Israel's good faith?

  —T. Gray Read T. Gray's other letters
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