イスラエル／パレスチナ和平

While "responsible" settlers try to convince the public that disengagement is "not democratic" and compare their struggle to those of Gandhi and Martin Luther King no less, growing numbers of radicals insist that the plans for their future are "anti-Jewish" and so make the Israeli state irrelevant. In their eyes, the state derives legitimacy from being Jewish, not "democratic". The land is more significant than the state. And if the state is no longer a source of authority, it could turn into an enemy. Many radical settlements - like, more subtly, some settlers' media - call for armed resistance.

The settlers' leaders are playing a dual game. Some are horrified by the idea of breaking from the state, knowing that their project is not viable without Israel's funding and protection. They also know that if an Israeli government buys out the non-ideological settlers, the hardliners' weakness might be exposed. The mainstream leadership tends to regard the radicals as a means of intimidating the Israeli public. If you fail to accommodate our demands, they warn, there's no telling what these diehards will do: bomb the Muslim holy places on the Temple Mount, kill soldiers, assassinate Sharon or, even, launch a "brotherly war".

In the early days of the intifada, Israelis used to say that Arafat could light the fire, but not control the height of the flames. The same is true about the settlers. Israelis are good at enduring civilian loses, but they have zero tolerance for attacks on soldiers. When the first settler shoots the first soldier, the settlement project may be over and done with. Both settlers and the government - that uses them to keep its hold on the West Bank - want to prevent such a development. But the dynamic on the ground is likely to take its own course, regardless.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,1462268,00.html


＞Suicide attacks in the heart of Israel won sympathy for the settlers' slogan "The territories are here" - in other words, there is no difference between Israel and the occupied territories because "the Palestinians are out to get us all anyway".
＠にもかかわらずの「撤退」でアル。アラブ／イスラム／パレスチナの「泣き寝入り」などゴキブリの悶絶にすぎん。