Reply #46: My pessimistic view of the Gaza retreat

[King Mongo]

Posted by pelsar
But that is where Gaza comes in...this is the experiment. If the palestenians can make a society that we can live with, their expanding to the west bank are inevitable, since the argument that it endangers us will have proven false. And though it sounds patronizing to say to the palestenians " prove yourself first"....after 56 years of warfare, we are within those rights.

From my observations, it seems as if most Palestinians don't trust Israelis. They don't believe that Israel will withdraw from the West Bank. They don't believe that Israel will let go of its control of Gaza and West Bank air space. They don't believe that Israel will give Palestinians full control over West Bank water resources. They don't believe that Sharon will give up east Jerusalem. Thus, the resistance will grow and continue fighting. The PA will continue to lose its control over the situation. The attacks against Israel will not stop. By withdrawing from Gaza, I think that not much will change. While the withdrawal is a nobel beginning on the Israeli side, more is needed to convince the Palestinian side that Israel will let go and accept Palestinians and accept an independent Palestinian state next to Israel.