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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (25874)	4/18/2002 8:57:24 AM
From: Dennis O'Bell	Respond to of 281500

Re: Jenin "camps" This article makes a valid point, but given the population density in Jenin itself, it would never have been a matter of just building properly there, but rather having enough open space to have a lower population density. Highly populated housing projects are famous for turning into cesspools, even with good intentions on the part of initial architects and urban planners. This argues that when things get rebuilt, (and they will, with the West footing the bill) the mistakes of leaving these things shouldn't be repeated. How many "camps" are there as bad as Jenin ? I know the Gaza strip is incredible also.

To: LindyBill who wrote (25874)	4/18/2002 10:22:09 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

UNREST IN THE PROMISED LAND By Richard Reeves Wed Apr 17, 9:31 PM ET WASHINGTON -- As tens of thousands of American Jews came to the capital on a stunning blue, green and gold day to demonstrate their support for Israel, I heard a woman angry or annoyed at an anti-Sharon remark saying, "You realize you're talking to a Jew?" Yes. I'm a New Yorker. There are days I seem to talk only to Jews. And I never think anything about it. What else is new? I also think Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) is a bum and may be a fool as well. I don't hear persuasive arguments -- and in my world everyone is arguing about the Middle East -- that the prime minister is adding to the glory or the security of the Jewish state. These things, too, I believe: Being anti-Sharon does not make one anti-Israel. Being anti-Sharon does not make one anti-Semitic. Anti-Semitism is not a significant factor anymore in American foreign policy or American life. Look at the wedding announcements in a Sunday paper and see who is marrying whom these days. Listen to Jewish mothers asking why one of their kids can't find a nice Jewish boy or a nice Jewish girl. We don't live in shtetls here. Many American actions regarding Jews before and during World War II are questionable. But since then, we have paid our dues: America is the promised land. Jews have enjoyed the same freedom, opportunity and security that most everyone else has in the great idea called America. That is what I really think. I hear the occasional anti-Semitic remark or see a sneer, and I think the same as I do when I see those poor souls puffing cigarettes in the doorways of office buildings in winter. Get a life. I support U.S. military aid to Israel. It may be excessive, but better more than less. We, as a people, have made a commitment to the survival of Israel. I agree with that, too. The Arab commitment to destroy Israel is, I think, immoral and, perhaps worse, totally phony. Raw political meat for the so-called Arab street. In truth, I would guess that Israel has done more for the Palestinians than all the Arab countries combined. But now Israel is destroying much of what it has helped build; it is a bit difficult to say that leveling neighborhoods, cutting off water and electricity, and shooting at anything that moves, including journalists, is nothing more than fighting terrorism. The whole world is watching now, and that is Israel's greatest problem. Israelis are understandably fearful and frustrated by the evil of suicide bombing, but it is doubtful Sharon's tactics are going to make the situation better. What is happening has to be seen as a failure of Israel's West Bank policies for more than 30 years. One way or another this civil war is getting worse, not better. Both sides are going to be forced to start over again with new leaders and recycled ideas. One of the tragic ironies is that we know how this is going to end; the only question is how bad will it be at the beginning of that end. If Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) or his successors cannot or do not control the terror of the bombers, a wall or a buffer zone is going to be established between the two nations and the Palestinians are going to be cut out of the Israeli-driven economy of the region. Israel will grow with "guest labor" imported from Asia (Korea will be one major source, as it has been in Saudi Arabia), and Palestine will end up being dependent on the kindness of other Arab states. Unfortunately, other Arab states are not noted for their kindness, particularly toward Palestinians. The Palestinians are generally disliked by their Arab brethren -- they are the Jews of the Arab world, is one repeated insult in places like Cairo or Jiddah -- and they will be left to fester behind the wall between them and the modern world. Their one victory will be the abandonment of the Jewish settlements established -- quite illegally -- far from Jerusalem. It will be just too dangerous for Jews to be on the wrong side of the Palestine wall. And no one else will come. That is where we are headed -- and Sharon is making it worse. The passion of Israelis and of American Jews is certainly understandable, even inspiring. But their determination that others must back Sharon and his tanks is not. If he wants a war, that is his business, but much of the world will look away from this deluded man until Israel once again presents itself as a shining city on a hill. story.news.yahoo.com