April 18, 2002

Does the West Bank Charge ATM Fees?
   by mike <mike@pfft.net>

Woooo. New name for Weekly Insight. Stacy and I changed it simply because it was no longer weekly. I tried on and off, sometimes successfully, other times not. Here we are with the new, improved Weekly Insight, "Experts Agree...!"

Anyway, on to the story. This time I'm going to complain about the situation between Israel and Palestine that has escalated so much in the past few weeks. I'm also going to tell you that at this point, I'm siding with Israel. And here's why.

First of all, I don't blame Ariel Sharon for driving his forces into Palestine, all but declaring an all-out war against Arafat and his goons. There's a simple rule in life - your cause is never important or urgent enough that it's okay to strap C-4 to yourself and blow up a bus or restaurant. Never.

While I can appreciate the Palestinians wanting their space free from Israeli influence, they are going about it the wrong way. Plus, I simply do not believe that if Israel gave up the West Bank, Arafat wouldn't want more. For all we know, they'd decide to come after Jerusalem! Making such concessions gets you into worse trouble. ...and apparently gets you suicide-bombed.

I'm not a political scientist. I'm not sure what the proper course of action is at this point. I am sure, though, that sending Colin Powell out there wasn't going to solve nearly all of it. Americans have this hope that Powell, with his distinguished history and impeccable reputation, will be able to solve their problems. Some problems cannot be solved just because the U.S. is getting involved.

What I think we should do wouldn't require too much planning. We should do what we should have done during the Gulf War: Take our forces in and occupy Palestine. Then we turn to Arafat, old and decrepit as he is, and say, "This is ours. Get out."

PFFT.

Published: April 18, 2002
Editor: stacy