Europe is impatient and Israel says it should chill. In the International Herald Tribune, Israel’s ambassador to Ireland, Zion Evrony, is given a platform to instruct Palestinians to have patience if they want freedom. Because the Israelis must have many reassurances from them first before such a thing can come to pass.
For Israel, the vital interest is its recognition by Palestinians as the nation-state of the Jewish people, existing with adequate security arrangements alongside a demilitarized Palestinian state. For Palestinians, the vital interest is independence and freedom within their own state.
…As W.B. Yeats wrote, “Peace comes dropping slow.” There is no doubt that we must be patient, avoid setting unrealistic deadlines and above all, keep in mind that peace, no matter how difficult to achieve and imperfect, is better than perpetual conflict.
I remember the fierce urgency of the Jews in D.P. camps after World War II–how that situation led to the creation of Israel–and wonder if Gaza has not built some of the same urgency in Europe about Palestinian self-determination. And I remember that if it had been left up to the Indians to dictate the terms of the Pakistani state, there would be no Pakistan to this day.
