The Israeli Knesset votes to pull out of Gaza.
UPDATE: The deacon chimes in. Also, don’t miss the Victor Davis Hanson article on Sharon as Ajax linked below. It’s a keeper.
MORE: The boifromtroy has another interesting report on the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
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I’ve spent the last 15 minutes trying to find a Victor Davis Hanson article likening Ariel Sharon to old Ajax, from Homer. I meant to link to it, but, alas, I couldn’t find the essay, which appeared in National Review about a year and a half or two years ago.
It was about a battered old warrior, long past the point of any personal ambition, but out of long habit fighting every day, with everything he has left, for his people.
Buddy,
Here is the article: Victor Davis Hanson, April 23, 2002, Israel’s Ajax: The Tragedy of Mr. Sharon.
Before “Bush = Hitler” made it to the top of the charts, I used to hear “Sharon = Arafat” all the time. I hope with this historic vote we’ve reached the end of that sort of nonsense.
For what it’s worth, my 2 shekels on the matter:
http://www.scaramouche.motime.com/
That was two very well spent shekels, Scaramouche. I re-read the VDH (thanks, Hovig, and good on you, Roger, for looking at it), and it’s even better-applied today than that April. The sons of Atreus and Odysseus weren’t running for the USA presidency two and half years ago.
I should’ve said “a son of (etcetera)” rather than the ambiguous lift from VDH without quote marks. Didn’t mean Bush, nosiree.
Scaramouoche:
There is no good decision when it comes to the Israel-Palestine issue.I have never been a fan of Sharon but I think this is an extension of the practical approach that President Bush started when he said that he would no longer deal with Arafat. If peace ever comes to this region it will come in small steps. The hope of a grand final conclusion a la Oslo is a pipe dream because as of this point Arafat is still running things and IMHO his charade of wanting a peacefull settlement has finnaly been exposed. Arafat just put on the costume of diplomat and has never abandoned his revolutionary dream of driving the Jews into the sea. Arafat borrowed Lenins policy of neither peace or war and his play acting at wanting a peacefull two state solution deserves an Oscar nomination.
It is possible that Israel may some day regret this decision but to hold onto Gaza right know is death by a thousand cuts. This might also show the Palestinian people in Gaza that life under Arafat will be worse because he is a crook and has been using them as pawns for his entire carreer. And on a harsh but practical note if G aza becomes a staging area for attacks Israel can simply bomb the area without the responsibility of running it too.
This is just a start. Peace will not erupt out of this act. I see this as a strategic retreat that will allow Israel to dump the responsibility of administrating an impossible situation and if war ever breaks out they can reclaim it in a couple of weeks. They will score no points in the UN but that is a lost cause anyway. Of course if Kerry is elected they are screwed but that is the case whether they hold Gaza or not.
Kevin P.–I’m feeling rather dispeptic these days about the chances for peace in the Middle East. Given that in the past 5,000 years or thereabouts, much of the world has yet to come to terms with the fact of the Jewish people, what is the likelihood that the Arab/Muslim world and their EU factotums will ever be prepared to accept the fact of a Jewish state? Especially if Kerry comes to office, and sees fit to toss his multilateral compadres a nice meaty bone–i.e. Israel.
I love that VDH article. It was one of the first I read by him and I knew instantly I better keep my eye on his stuff. It helped me up my comfort level with the “conservative” label.
Scaraouoche:
I do not think there will be peace in the middle east soon either. What I like about Bush and Sharon is that, although they are not oppossed to the idea of a quick negotiated settlement, they are not banking everything on one roll of the dice. If the palestinians realize that they will no longer be able to use the noble but naive desire of the summit magic bullit and that they are dealing with leaders who will take actions on their own if Arafat continues to jerk them around then they might come to the conclusion that YA has outlived his usefullness. This too is farfetched but as long as Israel keeps their powder dry and continues to respond in full to every human bomb and every other terrorist tactic then they might grow weary and send an honest partner for peace.
I have always thought that Arafats religous posing has been a fraud but I know he is facing mecca everyday and praying for a Kerry victory. Then he knows he will get more dramatic summits where he can wrangle concessions and breathing space before he scuttles them and gets the UN to blame Israel and gets Kerry to “put pressure’ on Israel as Holbrooke puts it and drive a wedge between the US and Israel. If Kerry wins hopefully Israel will continue to refuse to deal with Arafat and let him die and get his just rewards. This may be naive too but I always prefer to be well armed in my ignorance rather then defenseless.
I have this dream that Israel’s economic success could work into the Pal population at an orders-of-magnitude amplified pace if only, if only, if only, the right sort of leadership would arise. I believe that’s what Sharon meant today when he said “The sword alone cannot prevail.” His challengers on the right looked scary on TV today, really angry with him. He’s in the center of the same sort of gut-wrenching right/left rearrangement being forced here stateside. But everything is so magnified in a tiny state in a sea of enemies. Like here, though, the issues are so complex, and cross-contingent on incremental outcomes, you almost have to just look at the men, Bush and Sharon,and either back them, or not. And if you choose to back them, then they need for you to pipe up and say so. Loud, clear, and hourly.
Roger,
Thanks for the link to Hansen’s article.
Today Israel remembers Rabin and the Knesset has had its rememberance session.
Something that struck me was the fact that the people who scurrilously attacked Rabin and compared him to a Nazi now are threatening Sharon.
And in the same fashion, in the States, the opposition demonize Bush and equate him to Hitler.
There must be some common trait amongst these people that permits them this liberty. It is not as simple as left or right.