BUSH’S ‘REVERSAL’

I’m sorry. I don’t see it. Reading through his speech on the plane back to DC, I was struck once again at how eloquent, powerful, and clear this president’s formal rhetoric can be. I could find nothing in the speech with which to disagree. Its clear and unmissable emphasis is the right one: that the prime responsibility for the violence in Israel and the West Bank in the last few months lies squarely with the terrorist, Yassir Arafat, and his accomplices. To say he has failed to live up to a single one of his promises to restrain violence is an under-statement. But it is equally true that re-occupation of the West Bank is not and should not be an option. Nor should maintenance of the settlements. The president significantly didn’t set a time-table for Israeli withdrawal – and Colin Powell won’t be in Irsael until the end of next week. So Israel has some lee-way, and should find a way to get out as effectively as possible. Besides, much has already been accomplished, not least of which is the rallying of Israeli will to fight for survival. I am no optimist about what lies ahead. My own view is that the pathology, delusions and hatred that now infect the Palestinian world is not unrelated to the manic terror of al Qaeda. I don’t think anyone will be able to talk them out of it. But it is equally clear that as a moral issue, we have to try. To have done so before Israel was allowed to have responded would have been a sign of weakness. To do so now, after thorough Israeli self-defense, is a sign of simple will. If some calm prevails, then it may be that our campaign against Iraq will fare better. For my part, I suspect that it is only after we have defeated Iraq and achieved a regime change in Iran that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be amenable to settlement, of even a provisional kind. But I don’t blame the president for trying. And I don’t consider this a “reversal.” I see no capitulation to terror in Bush’s speech, and much resolve to continue the fight. For this, relief. For Israel a difficult but noble task – to try again.

SONTAG AWARD NOMINEE: “Though we at THE TIKKUN COMMUNITY oppose the outrageous and disgusting acts of terror against Israelis, we know that the actual level of violence is small compared to the number of Israelis who die each year in automobile accidents.” – Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun.