Israel to Palestinians: Learn Lesson of Iraq War

[spoon]

Israel to Palestinians: Learn Lesson of Iraq War

Israel said on Thursday it hoped the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would teach the Palestinians the lesson that they must install new leaders and abandon their uprising for independence.

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Now I was under the impression that independence was the whole [moral] point of Saddam’s fall??

I can understand the Israelis saying that old leaders like Arafat need to be replaced democratically for the sake of progress, but don’t tie that into the Iraq war like this, that’s just wrong. Can Israel truthfully draw a moral equivalence to Iraq? (This is taking the Iraq operations in the best light possible, for the sake of argument.) Essentially they are holding the Palestinians to be like Saddam. If the Palestinians are Saddam that would imply Israel are the glorious liberators, righteousness embodied.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz:
“I hope that in the era after the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the Palestinians will understand that the world has changed,” he told reporters.

That sounds like a decent message, but how has it changed? If anything they should be playing up the image of the Iraqi people’s role in overthrowing Saddam. They should risk inflating the Palestinian ego. Do this to give them hope and confidence so that they may step back from their depressed dependence on Arafat.

He said, however, Sharon and aides “don’t want to provoke (the Arab world) or annoy the Americans right now” by trumpeting the link between Saddam’s demise and Israeli interests.

If you ask me, the only Israeli interest that should or could be tied to Saddam’s demise publicly is, quite simply, Saddam’s demise. They can use bits of it as I mentioned above, but only in minor ways supporting an argument. It should not be the basis of any argument regarding Palestine. To do so is only inviting chaos.

In case there was any surprise, these were the responses to the featured statements:

Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, an aide to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, rejected Mofaz’s remarks. “The Palestinian leadership is committed to international legitimacy and to the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation,” he told Reuters.

Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, senior political leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, pledged there would be no knock-on collapse of the uprising. “Resistance will escalate and will become more violent,” he told Reuters in Gaza City.

[Nadia_H]

Re: Israel to Palestinians: Learn Lesson of Iraq War

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by spoon: *
**Can Israel truthfully draw a moral equivalence to Iraq? ...] Essentially they are holding the Palestinians to be like Saddam. If the Palestinians are Saddam that would imply Israel are the glorious liberators, righteousness embodied. That sounds like a decent message, but how has it changed? If anything they should be playing up the image of the Iraqi people's role in overthrowing Saddam.
[/QUOTE]
*

From the article: [Israeli Defence Minister Shaul] Mofaz expressed hope that the Palestinians would take cues from Saddam's overthrow. He said they must "give the chance for a new and authentic leadership to grow, end terror and incitement and return to the negotiating table."

i was hoping for something new from his lips. Sadly, it is the same drivel - constant concessions being demanded of one side. It's interesting that Israel is trying to draw a parallel analogy between the Palestinian leadership and Saddam Hussein's (former?) regime. i think there are so many aspects of this, though, that they're neglecting - for a limited amount of time during the 1980s leading right upto the first 'Gulf War', the people of Iraq actually were members of a country that - despite being ruled by a dictator/tyrant - was actually socio-economically on a par with Greece and certainly one of the most advanced Arab countries. i am not certain if democracy will work in Iraq (or elsewhere for that matter) if it is not a true, indigenous movement.

[kenny]

The only parallel i can draw is the US coming to liberate the palestinians from Israel? That would go down like pork chops at Bar Mitzvah. It would make a good movie though.