Real peace cannot be achieved until Israelis see Palestinians as equals. America can lead the way by engaging with both sides
by Jonathan Ben-Artzi (a conscientious objector who spent 18 months in Israeli military prison in 2002-2004 and nephew of Binyamin Netanyahu), Comment is Free, 18 May 2009
…Young Israelis, tired of thinking of their future, find their peace of mind in long trips to East Asia and South America, and then, upon returning to Israel, they sink into their HDTVs during the day, and nightclubs at night. Anything to avoid reality.
And reality is close: for most of us Israelis it is no more than a 20-minute drive to the closest checkpoint separating Israel-proper from occupied territories and, beyond this checkpoint, one finds people, Palestinians, living in big open-air prisons, shadows of what used to be bustling cities. We maintain these city-prisons: we built the wall that surrounds them, we send the troops that enforce curfews and we launch the artillery shells that strike their dense neighborhoods. And we will eventually pay the price…