Chris Hedges: Why Israel Lies

[JDPriestly]

52. The Israelis would answer that they tried that and that the Palestinians

responded with violence.

Think of it. Israel opened up its society to Palestinians. They were permitted to come into Israel for all sorts of reasons. When Sharon challenged the commitment of Palestinians to religious tolerance. (Remember how people complain that Israel is a Jewish state?) by simply marching around the Temple Mount, the Palestinians started the Second Intifada, committing a lot of terror acts within Israel.

So, Israel built a wall. A wall is ugly, but it is non-violent. Israel of course was accused of apartheid. But the wall saved lives on both sides of it.

Then Palestinian extremists started shooting rockets into Israel, many, many, many of them.

So Israel built a missile defense shield which has provided increased security in Israel and discouraged rocket attacks from Palestinians.
Again, Israel used a non-violent method to deal with Palestinian violence.

And guess what? Palestinians found a way to avoid the wall and the missile shield, a way to get into Israel to kidnap or harm Israelis -- a complex network of tunnels.

The attacks on Palestinians that are taking place now are horrific, but there is a long history of Palestinian terror. Understandably, the Israelis are fearful and frustrated -- at the end of their patience. Can you imagine the money and effort that went into building the wall and the missile shield?

That is why I find that there is blame on both sides and we should work toward figuring out how to help both sides work toward peace.

As I see it, Israel's wall and missile shield indicate a will for peace. We shall see whether Palestinians can also indicate a will for peace. Some of the aggression of the Palestinians if by individuals and not by Hamas or any other known group. A good place for Palestinians to start would be with punishing those in its population who attack Israelis.