Geneva Fantasy

[pistoff democrat]

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Most Israelis have long since lost any faith in the willingness of Arafat's regime to uphold any agreement with Israel. Under Oslo, the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) pledged to refrain from incitement, actively combat terrorism, limit the weaponry in its arsenal, and peacefully resolve all disputes with Israel. Instead, it has educated a generation of Palestinian youth to revere suicide bombers, actively abetted terrorism, smuggled in tens of thousands of illegal weapons, and responded to Israel's peace offers with a war that has killed or wounded thousands on both sides.

The Geneva Accord, however, pretends that the last three years never happened. Absurdly, Geneva again invites the Palestinians to commit themselves to combat terrorism, refrain from incitement, limit the weapons in their arsenal, and accept the permanence of Israel. In contrast to Oslo, though, which was a process of stages in which the Palestinians had to fulfill the agreement to receive a state, this time the Palestinians get their state first and only later have to prove good faith.

Not only does Geneva ignore the collapse of Palestinian credibility; it denies Israel the means to defend itself. While even Oslo gave Israeli security forces the right of hot pursuit against terrorists, Geneva would place Israel's security in the hands of a multinational force composed of contingents from the "U.S., the Russian Federation, the EU, the U.N., and other parties." The force would be charged with monitoring Palestinian compliance with the Accord, patrolling borders, and preventing terrorist attacks and arms-smuggling. Israel and Palestine would have the right to assent to the force, but the Accord is unclear on whether the two parties can veto the countries providing monitors. Consequently, given international pressure on Israel, can anyone imagine it being able to veto the participation of, say, France and Belgium?

Worse, Israel's experience with such multinational forces is hardly encouraging. Beginning in 1949, border disputes were supposed to be resolved by joint Arab-Israeli committees under the U.N.'s aegis. But these committees proved powerless to prevent terrorist incursions into Israel, and their failure helped precipitate the 1956 Sinai War. U.N. peacekeeping forces placed in Sinai after that conflict were summarily evicted by Egypt in May 1967, triggering the Six Day War. More recently, U.N. observer forces in Lebanon have failed to prevent Hezbollah attacks against Israel and have even been implicated in the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. (Israel's history does offer two examples of successful international peacekeeping: on the Golan Heights after the 1973 War and in Sinai after the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty in 1979; in both cases, though, success has depended on the Syrian and Egyptian determination to maintain a quiet border.) Yet the Geneva Accords would resurrect the failed 1949 model of joint committees and entrust Israel's security to international peacekeepers.

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http://www.aish.com/SSI/articleToPrint.asp?PageURL=/jewishissues/middleeast/Geneva_Fantasy.xml&torahportion=notparshapage&author=Yossi+Klein+Halevi+and+Michael+B%2E+Oren&teaser=A+comprehensive+analysis+of+the+Geneva+Accords%2E

[JM]

1. While the accord itself...

...may or may not be fantasy, what is encouraging is that people other than those "in charge" are getting involved and pushing the process.

Lately people have been trending toward living life by proxy, that is, passively sitting by basically saying" I'll let my 'elected' leadership handle the issue". Until people get directly involved, they will be enslaved to the political agendas of a select few and the fact that people on both sides of the conflict want basically the same things (safety, peace, etc.) will remain buried.

Once people get involved on their own, they can reach an understanding one peaceful gesture at a time.

Later,
JM

[bluesoul]

2. The Geneva is a "fantasy" for

those that don't want peace.

[pistoff democrat]

4. Have you seen Arafat and the

other terrorists' statements against Geneva?

[tinnypriv]

3. Oren is still considered somewhat sane

He would do well not to be associated with this sort of trash.

Not even he argues that the eviction of the UN forces in the Sinai "triggered" the 67 war, and he is responsible for one of the most comprehensive (and pro-Israel) books on that conflict.