No surprise there. Thanks mostly to that murder cult they call a peaceful religion, they will remain committed to the total destruction of Israel. They can't face reality; religion won't allow it.

The jewish state is there. It is not going away because camel land moslems don't like them. They are not going to slaughter jews in a holy war. Egypt came to its senses and regained the land they lost by a negotiated peace treaty, which both have honored since then. Sadat is still a "traitor" to many moslems.

The saddest irony is the majority of Palestinians don't want to fight or kill anybody. They'd be perfectly happy to build their own economy and the security of a home, a job, and not have the fear of getting bombed by an israeli jet retaliating for a suicide bomber or guerilla raid.

Moslem clerics in robes and ZZ Topp beards won't allow it. If they did, the radical religious fervor and their influence would erode.

I agree that there are far too many Arabs who would just as soon nuke Tel Aviv. But I think Catpaw has it right, most Palestinians just want their own country. Even the staunchest supporter of Israel can understand why the Palestinians might have a problem with the world suddenly deciding to give their country to Jewish Europeans. Imagine if the U.N. decided that the Yokuts should take over California and make it their own again. That's not even a good analogy because the Palestinians have always lived there where white Europeans have not always lived in California.

I believe if they do give the Palestians their own land, there will of course still be problems. But I also think that the world would all side with the Israelis should they continue to be attacked. That puts the onus on the new Palestinian state to control their own.

Nancy:  I read this column before seeing it here.  I agree wholeheartedly with Jacoby on this.  The Arabs no more want a peaceful two-state territory than a plague of locusts.  What they want, ultimately, is Israel gone.  Done with.  Kaput.  No more.  No mas.  Zap. 

If this administration does not wake up to this fact -- that the Arabs really don't want to live peaceably with the Jews -- well, I shudder to think of the results for all of us. 

Thanks for putting this on the blog.  I hope more see it and read ir carefully. 

I think it's important to look at the historical reality of the situation, which Jacoby conveniently ignores:

The Sykes-Picot Agreement and Balfour Declaration were established even before the end of WWI between Britain and France, carving up the Ottoman Empire into new countries, one being "Palestine" which had never before existed in a real form.  Within "Palestine" they would create a Jewish homeland.  Right prior to these agreements, the region we now know as Israel had a minority of Jews (11% or less) - and such a minority of the population had been standard since well before the advent of Islam (think of Christianity post the 1st Century AD). Circa 1930, the Jewish population was about 16%. 1947 - 32%.  Today - almost 80%.

So, we have a region that for literally almost 2,000 years had a minority of Jewish People, and then due to Western influence and imperialism, the minority become the majority.  I'd say the Palestinians have a legitimate reason to be unhappy.

Then again, not all Arabs were against the Mandate, in fact, the future King of Iraq signed a declaration in 1919 in support of a Jewish immigration, thinking it would help stimulate the economy of the region.

Speaking of Mohammad Amin al-Husayni (aka Haj, whom Jacoby speaks of), it's well documented that he supported an independent Palestine as early as 1920, way before Nazism took hold of Germany. Ironically, it was Britain who put this man into power to begin with.

Personally, I think the Arabs are waiting for the West to admit that they screwed up and should never have carved up the Middle East like they did, creating conflict and chaos in the settling dust.  I'm sure there are plenty who still do believe that they've been cheated and that Israel has no legitimate right to exist.  I'm also sure that there are some who have become realists and would be willing to have a two-state solution.

Either way, I think one of my old professors, a former CIA operative, said it best (which I'm sure he quoted from someone else): "There will be no end to the turmoil in the Middle East until all Arab states recognize the sovereignty of Israel."

I'd add - .. or until one of the two groups eradicates the other.

Either way, I personally look at it from a realist perspective - at this point, a two-state solution would be the only peaceful way to put an end to this, but I still can't blame those Arabs who aren't in support of it.