WHY NO PEACE - YET?

The advocacy of b'tselem's solutions, and those of similar advocate groups, to the Israeli Palestinian/Arab-World conflict that began in 1948 when five Arab states attacked the Jewish community in Palestine to overthrow the United Nations' decision to divide the lands of the British Mandate between indigenous Jews and Arabs, is a cancer on the body of any peace agreement.

Any "solution" that leads to the destruction of the State of Israel is, on its face, not viable. From the first Armistice that ended the conflict in 1949 and through the years of "peace" negotiations, the Arab world has required - and continues to demand - that a stick of dynamite be inserted into any "peace" agreement that would ensure the destruction of the State of Israel. That stick of dynamite is called, "The Right of Return."

The establishment of a democratic state with political equality for all its inhabitants would immediately wipe out the State of Israel with the admission into the country of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war. The very existence of this down-trodden group of people is the result of the Arab World's intent to destroy Israel by holding those refugees hostage rather than absorbing them into the societies of the countries that placed them and has held them for sixty years in "refugee" camps (including the Gaza Strip.)

The balancing act required to enable the continued existence of Israel and finding a future for the refugees of 1948 requires a willingness on the part of the host countries to absorb those millions of exploited people. Absent that, there is no hope for peace in the region.

The land can be divided. Jerusalem can be divided. The water and natural resouces can be shared. Health care, education, economic growth, and political equality can come into fruition with a peace agreement. But not with the "Law of Return" that would lead to the destruction of the State of Israel by vote.