Israel and Iraq: road-map to peace

Why is there a war with Iraq?

Saddam Hussein payed the family of Palestinian suicide-bombers money. Israel did not appreciate this gesture, to say the least. The Sin Beth and the Mossad fed false information. Bush made a wrong decision.

Jews have a right to live, no doubt about that. But can we accept a state only for Jews? Can we accept a state in which Jews are better humans than Arabs? That is the current situation in Israel. Israel has an 'Apartheid'. Jews who recently immigrated to Israel have much more rights than Arabs who live there since before 1966 and have payed taxes all those years. That is discrimination. Most civilized countries do not accept discrimination from a state.

Because of this 'Apartheid' there is no solution for the conflict between Israel and its neighbours. The first step towards solving the conflicts in the Middle East is to end the 'Apartheid'.

It would be a wise step for the next president of the USA to do the following:

1. Order Israel to end the 'Apartheid' within three years. If not, all aid of the USA towards Israel will be terminated after this three years.
2. Demand from Israel that each half year a certain milestone must have been reached. If the milestone is not reached, the aid of the USA to Israel is cut by 15%.

Uphold the human rights, no matter what the costs

Generalization:

Civilized countries should only give aid and should only do business with states and people who:

• accept the human rights;
• do what they can to diminish discrimination;
• improve the legal and social situation of those who are discriminated by the culture of that state or of that people.

Civilized countries should put this into some kind of law, that binds politicians to do whatever they can to uphold human rights and to diminish discrimination.

Jews and Palestinians

Another problem with Israel is it's aggressive behaviour towards the Palestinians. Some Palestinians are also aggressive against Israel. But it is wrong to punish and terrorize all Palestinians because some of them shoot missiles towards Israel.

The blockade of Israel around Gaaza should be considered a war crime. Israel is a powerful state with a government that can control it's people. The Palestinian 'government' doesn't have the power to prevent private attacks against Israel. The foremost cause is the aggression of Israel. Israel deliberately destroyed the Palestinian government during the second Intifada.

Many people consider Israel to be a 'democracy', but in reality the secular Jews are held hostage by religious Jews. The Israelian government can not break through the 'mental terror' of religious fundamentalists, it needs the guidance of the USA.

Action against Israel

It would be a wise step for the next president of the USA to do the following:

1. Order Israel to remove all roadblocks;
2. Install checkpoints manned by UN-soldiers to prevent suicide-bombings and the smuggling of weapons;
3. Order Israel to withdraw behind the lines of 1967, give up all settlements in the Occupied Territories.

The next president of the USA should not negotiate with the Israelian government about these points. It should be 'take it or leave it'. If the Israelian government is not willing to accept these terms, they should be excluded from the international community.

I do not understand why the international community has accepted the discrimination of Arabs living in Israel for such a long time. Even in South-Africa the days of 'Apartheid' are long gone. In my opinion the costs of 'Apartheid' and the costs of the rigid attitude of the government of Israel towards the Palestinians are to high. In fact: Since a Jewish extremist shot Rabin, my patience with Israel is over. That Jewish extremist executed Israel, not only Rabin.

Prevent World War III

With the high price of oil the Arabs get more money. Part of this money is used for global terrorism.

Many Moslems throughout the world hold the USA responsible for the actions of Israel against Palestinians and Arabs. This is why many Moslems really hate the USA and why there is so much violence against American targets. It would be wise to reduce this hatred and to demand from Israel a radical change toward Arabs living in Israel and towards the Palestinians.

It is easy to cause a lot of damage when you don't care about your own life. The living circumstances of Palestinians are so bad, that many of them believe they are better of when death. Every other Palestinian juvenile is a potential suicide-terrorist until the Palestinians get a better live.

Example:

If you don't care about your own life, you can infect yourself with a disease and go to people you want to hurt. A Palestinian youth could be infected with a virus, put on some explosives and get himself arrested and interrogated. When he starts coughing up blood it would already be to late for the interrogators.

It is to easy to commit acts of terror. It will become even more easy with every technological breakthrough. Fighting terror with violence is a death-trap. It is essential to improve the living conditions of Palestinians and in general of the poor people throughout the world. We should give people reasons to live and not reasons to die.

World War III will not be fought with large armies. If there comes a World War III, it is likely that it will be fought with small surprise attacks with suicide missions. We should do whatever we can to prevent this.

Solutions are easy

Many people believe that the problems between Israel and it's neighbours are difficult to resolve. They are not.

The European countries and the USA have stated a firm believe in human rights. According to human rights discrimination based on gender, religion or race is a bad thing.

Israel discriminates between Jews and Arabs. This discrimination has to stop. If not, Israel can no longer be considered a member of the civilized world.

When we adopt that point of view, many religious Jews will become furious and accuse us of anti-Semitism. Who cares. Many non-religious Jews will be relieved. There are many Jews who really hate the Apartheid in Israel. Many of them are afraid to speak out because they are afraid of the mental terror of religious Jews.

Many Jewish politicians in Israel already reached the conclusion, that Israel has no future, unless there is a drastic change. But they can not make this change, because they are held hostage by religious Jews. Pressure from the USA and the EU can help them to make the necessary changes.

When the discrimination of Arabs in Israel ends, the relations between Israel and it's neighbours can and will improve.

Support the Palestinians

The other problem with Israel, the conflict between Jews and Palestinians, is more complicated. But it has a simple solution to, as I wrote above:

1. Order Israel to remove all roadblocks;
2. Install checkpoints manned by UN-soldiers to prevent suicide-bombings and the smuggling of weapons;
3. Order Israel to withdraw behind the lines of 1967, give up all settlements in the Occupied Territories.

These three point are not enough, but a good starting point. The next point is essential to:

• Support the Palestinians and give them what they need to build a strong and reliable government, that can prevent terrorism against Jews (and other people).
• It is possible that this Palestinian government has to violate some human rights to prevent terrorism. It is not right to accept this indefinitely. But during a transitional period in which Jews and Palestinians can reconcile, it should be accepted for a while with reasonable limitations. The Palestinians are an extremely traumatized people. We can not and should not expect from them the same regard for human live. We (the people of western Europe and the people form northern America) have been privileged since 1945. We should be patient and tolerant with Palestinians and other people who have been extremely traumatized.

With Light and Love, Andreas Firewolf