Seeing Right Through It...

"Just as there is a virtually unanimous international consensus on the illegal nature of the Israeli settler-colonies, so is there also global agreement that Israel must leave the territories occupied in 1967, negotiate a fair settlement of the refugee issue, share Jerusalem and coexist in peace alongside a sovereign, viable Palestinian state. The deep skepticism about both the impetus and the impact of the Gaza withdrawal reflects the perception - rooted in historical experience - that Israel is behaving only according to its sense of how to ensure its security through the use of its force, rather than through compliance with international law and the will of the community of nations.

There is something slightly politically devious about Israel's withdrawal. It does not have the compelling ring of authenticity and honesty that characterized the white South Africans' coming to terms with black majority rule, or Mikhael Gorbachev's coming to grips with his people's right to freedom and democracy. It seems to be an expedient, grudging, defensive, reluctant endeavor. It is the enterprise of a thief who decides to stop stealing in one part of town, only to steal more efficiently in other neighborhoods."

Israel's withdrawal is both historic and deceptive